


The Other Promise

by Electric_Angel



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Kingdom Hearts, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING, Male-Female Friendship, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Sadness, can i make it any more obvious, he was a nobody, shamelessly inspired by another fanfic, she was a pianist, there will be spoilers for KH3 and V3-1 at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23323078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Electric_Angel/pseuds/Electric_Angel
Summary: Whilst between the limbo between life and death, a certain pianist meets what once remained of Sora's Nobody—and a friendship, however brief, blossoms out of this meeting.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	1. Day One - Introductions

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [i found myself crying by your grave](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18080792) by [FierySprites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FierySprites/pseuds/FierySprites). 



**_“You’re leaving?”_ ** _  
_ _ “Yes, I really have to go.” _ _  
_ **_"Well... I won't be sad... because you'll always be right here, forever and ever..."_ ** _  
_ _ “...And all of you are right here, too.” _

  * _An exchange between Sora and Winnie the Pooh in the 100 Acre Woods, Kingdom Hearts II._



* * *

On the first day, the first thing Kaede felt after opening her eyes after death was weightlessness. Pure, utter weightlessness.

When one’s heart is lost, entering what one would consider the “afterlife” causes one to lose any semblance of a body unless they have a strong will. Indeed, the Ultimate Pianist felt nothing as she tried to “reach” forward to the thin air in front of her. Being untethered by the mortal coil and not having much of a body to “touch” things with meant that it was a surreal experience. All that the pianist could see as she looked down upon herself was the faint fragmentations of what she assumed was her normal clothing—a purple vest, a violet skirt—albeit somewhat transparent, at that. It was a funny feeling, being able to look through herself. Doing it kind of made her feel like a ghost. Yeah, like a ghost! 

Thinking about ghosts made Kaede wonder where she was. Remembering what had happened to her was too painful to remember, Kaede mused as she gently put her hands up and gingerly touched her neck. How could she forget? 

From the moment the trial had come to an end, her heart had shattered into pieces—

_ “You’re… giving up? But why? You said… you’d never give up… that we’d get out of here together! That’s what you said, Kaede! So why are you giving up now? Did you mean what you said?! I know we can do something! Don’t give up until the end!” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “...I’m not giving up. Because I have you. Even after I’m gone,  _ **_my wish_ ** _ will still be here. So I’m counting on you all! I’m entrusting  _ **_my wish_ ** _ to every one of you! I believe in you! I believe that you all will make it through this, somehow!” _

**From the moment the trial had come to an end, the promise she had made remained at that Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles—**

_ “I believe in you guys! So please believe in yourself!” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “...Okay? It’s a promise.” _

**_From the moment the trial had come to an end, that noose wrapped around her neck and strangled strangled strangled her without a care for the world—_ **

Kaede’s eyes fluttered open yet again, the sudden emotion flooding her brain proving too much for her at that current time. While she had yet to quell such a rush of emotions, seeing the world around her was enough to occupy her attention. She looked far beyond the horizon, and gazed upwards towards the sky, trying to understand where she was.

What she saw was a brilliant blue landscape. It was difficult for her to explain it in mere words when it was all so breathtaking to her. The ground she was on was almost like a mirror, reflecting the sky with perfect clarity. Even looking down at the image of herself was crystal clear. Kaede looked up from the ground and stared onward towards the ends of the earth, seeing nothing but a seemingly infinite field. Clouds and a bright sun lit up the entire world she was in; with each step she took, the ground rippled, almost as if she was walking on water. There was truly nothing quite as incredible as being in such a wide field all on your lonesome. At that moment, the pianist felt nothing but tranquility; the warmth of the sun made her feel alive, even if she was meant to be dead.

Ah, yes. That’s right. She was meant to be dead.

Despite the otherworldly scenery, there was no doubt that Kaede was currently deceased. After her horrific execution, it would be outright miraculous if some contrived circumstance meant she was still alive. Given the heavenly appearance of this world, maybe… Kaede was in Heaven itself? Kaede always  _ did _ believe in Heaven, after all, so it would be nice if she ended up here after all (even if she thought she didn’t deserve it). However, the pianist imagined that Heaven would be a lot less… barren. That more people and buildings would be there… that she wouldn’t be so alone. 

Kaede took a small step forward, the ground rippling once more. If her assumptions were correct, then she would be in Heaven. If this was Heaven, that means she was dead—and, if she was dead, maybe she would come across some other recently departed souls. Part of her wondered if she would maybe soon come across Rantaro Amami… Maybe she could apologise to him for doing what she had done. Provided that he was willing to accept it and that he was there in the first place, that is.

Kaede took another step forward. If that’s the case, then it would make a lot more sense if Kaede started to pick a direction and walk. Somehow, in some way, she had the feeling she would come across someone that might tell her where she is, or what she can do now. If not? Then more walking will have to substitute for now.  
  
“...Alright, Kaede. Let’s do this.”   
  
Even her voice sounded hollow and whispery. However, her sheer determination would have to force it to stick together. She was still whole! She was still in one piece, even if she couldn’t see herself or even feel aware of her body! With a newfound resolve to continue to move forward, Kaede took step, after step, after step…

...Kaede continued to walk for a long time, finding nothing but the vast, open air of this newfound world. 

A newfound world that she was bound to get lost within the depths of.

* * *

Two things were made certain as Kaede continued to walk. 

Firstly, she could not feel fatigue or tiredness. Though emotions like sadness and happiness were commonplace for Kaede to feel, it was truly odd that she transcended needs like hunger and thirst. 

Secondly, time passed in this world she was within. Perhaps it had been mere minutes, or maybe hours—days, even, with how long she had been walking—and it was just after looking up to the sky that she had noticed the sky had turned a dark and dreary blue. She didn’t give up hope yet, but she was still feeling as if she should rest. Despite not feeling tiredness or fatigue, you can’t exactly continue to walk when you can’t see where you’re walking. Nonetheless, she felt… Cold. The night air and sky invited Kaede to fall into a blissful sleep, yet her eyelids refused to shut as she persevered onwards. One step forward, then another, then another…

Her mind drifted off to other events that occurred while she was still alive. The rush of playing the piano at concerts was always a welcome memory to relive. Just thinking about it brought a smile to her face—seeing everyone happy made her happy, as well. Then, for some strange reason, she woke up at that academy, and ended up in some sort of Killing Game… and then Rantaro… and Kaede…   
  
“...Rantaro…”   
  
The pianist slowly started to cease walking; it was more akin to dragging her feet than anything. One of Kaede’s biggest regrets was killing Rantaro, even if she set that trap up with the intention of killing the mastermind and ending the game once and for all. 

“...But that doesn’t matter, does it?”   
  
Kaede stopped walking completely, looking up to the bright yellow moon that hung over the dark night sky as she talked to herself.

“Even if I meant to save everyone by killing the mastermind… I still attempted to kill someone, no matter the reason. You paid the price for my mistake.” The pianist closed her eyes, a wave of sadness rushing over her. “If only I hadn’t caved into Monokuma’s stupid motive… There’s no telling what would have happened if I hadn’t done it, but I know that  _ you’d still be here.” _

Laughing hollowly, Kaede opened her eyes, looking down to the ground and staring at the reflection in the ground.

“Oh, what am I saying? It’s all water under the bridge now. You know, they say people should look to the future since you can’t change the past… but that won’t stop me from wishing I could.”

Silence met her words. At that moment, Kaede felt truly, truly alone.

A moment of peace was all it took for a small glimmer of light to catch Kaede’s eyes in the distance. Snapping her gaze up to it, she could make something out in the distance. It didn’t look like a person, but… she could vaguely make out the shape of  _ something, _ which was worth it in of itself. Without any hesitation, Kaede began to walk…. run… sprint there. After such a long time of isolation, even just seeing something was enough to pique her curiosity. The pianist hoped that it would be something that could provide her solace in this place.

Stopping just short of it, Kaede could make something out. It had the same properties of the water: that is, it reflected the image of whatever was looking at it. Tracing around it, she could tell it was very big… very wide... 

...Seeing what was on the sides granted her a relief denied even to the brightest of hopes.

What she saw there were piano keys—standard fare for a normal-sized piano. Finally… something she could express her emotions with. It goes without saying that Kaede’s talent as a pianist meant she could explain how she felt without even having to speak or emote, communicating only through music; perhaps she could find a piece that could properly express her feelings of loneliness, isolation, and regret for all she had lost.

Sitting down at the seat provided—also reflective, weirdly enough—Kaede was thankful that the piano keys were the only thing that weren’t reflective. Closing her eyes, Kaede let out a shudder of relief as soon as she pressed down as the keys. She didn’t have to even think of a melody. As if something else was controlling her, Kaede let the sounds of the piano reverberate across the night sky as she began to play.

As she did, thoughts of her actions whilst still alive flowed out from her mind unto the notes played. High notes decorated her wild emotions regarding hope for the future, as well as the belief that everyone else would get out of the academy safe and sound. Low notes, however, punctuated her grief over the loss of an innocent life, despite all of the reasons they may have passed. Each key Kaede pressed helped the pianist to relax and let her feelings run wild—her heart, although crying out in despair, would still hold onto the smallest sliver of hope that things would get better.

The piece Kaede was playing would continue on for what felt like an eternity. Though Kaede felt as if she was alone, she… she always turned to music to help herself feel better, when she couldn’t express her emotions in words. Albeit with a heavy heart, Kaede pressed the last few keys on the piano, letting the last note linger in the air before hesitantly lifting her finger off. Again, silence met Kaede’s heartfelt piano piece. She might have been on her own at that moment, but the pianist didn’t want to leave after being able to play the piano again. With a sigh, she spoke to the air, closing her eyes.

“Oh, what I’d give to perform in front of an audience again…”

It had been only a few seconds, however, before a voice piped up. Masculine and with a gentleness in its tone, Kaede sat upright and looked right behind her as soon as she heard it.

“I’ve been hearing your song the whole time, ma’am. You’re really skilled with the piano.”

Though Kaede would’ve been quick to freak out, you tend to lose all normal fears after dealing with robotic bears and being executed by the one thing you love most. Kaede blinked once, twice, thrice before swivelling around on her seat and taking a look at who spoke.

It was… a star. A glowing one, at that, with little sparkles of light around it, rotating in place idly (although Kaede got the impression that the star was looking right at her). There wasn’t a lot to say about its appearance, though Kaede was surprised; how come she had her own body while this star was… well, a star? 

Shaking her head, she softly smiled, folding her hands on her lap.  
  
“Well, I’d hope I’m skilled with the piano. It’s my talent, after all.”   


“Your talent? I can believe it. I’ve never heard such emotion in a song before…”

Kaede tilted her head slightly. “You haven’t? Everyone’s had to have heard a little bit of music in their lives before... Mine was just… out of the blue, I guess. Nothing really special.”

The star continued to rotate, though it chuckled at her words. “Oh, I’ve heard music before. I can’t say I’ve appreciated it as much until right now, though.”

“Oh, thank you!” Kaede put a hand on her chest. “I was inspired, I guess. I’ve just been… in some bad places lately.” She looked back to the piano. “I use the piano to express how I feel. I’m glad to see that my music can touch someone’s heart just like it’s changed mine.”

The star hummed in response. “I’d agree if I had a heart that  _ could _ be touched. If I can ask, what’s the name of the piece?”

It took a moment for the pianist to think of something. Though the piece had to do with everything she had lost, she had to admit that writing it was like she… she was flying. Truly, truly flying, free from all her emotions, even if they chained her heart with no chance of prying them away from her. With a hum, she put a finger to her chin, looking down to the star.

“I… wanna call it a Latin name. Maybe… Something like  **‘Ventus’** or something similar to that.”   
  
**“‘Ventus’** , huh?” The star chuckled again. “Sounds a bit airy, but I like it. Yeah, I think it’d be great if you could perform it again sometime.” It sighed. “I don’t usually get to talk a lot to people. Probably because I don’t  _ know _ too many people I’m close to.”

“Awww, that’s awful… I’m really sorry to hear that.” Kaede fully faced the star, bending over so she could look a bit closer at it. “I know what it’s like, being all alone. It’s not fun. If you wanted, I…” She smiled. “I wouldn’t mind being your friend. I’ve got a lot of friends, myself, so maybe I could introduce you to them sometime!”

The star stayed silent for a second. Kaede was almost wondering if she had done something wrong… before the star burst into laughter. “You know, you remind me of this one guy I know. He was everything that I wanted to be.”   


“Is that a good thing?” Kaede questioned.

“Depends.” It chuckled again. “The guy was naive and a bit dumb, even if he had his heart in the right place. Nice, kind, had a heart bigger than the whole world… Oh, and he sure did have a lot of friends.”

Kaede giggled. “He sounds like he would be someone worth knowing. Maybe you can introduce me to him sometime.”   
  
“Yeah… Yeah, maybe I might. You never know.” The star paused, before continuing on. “I don’t think I ever asked for your name.”   
  
“Oh! That’s right. Sorry for forgetting my manners.” Kaede put a hand on her chest again. “My name is Kaede Akamatsu. It’s very nice to meet you, Mr…?”   


The star laughed. “Kaede… I like the sound of that. You might have a bit of trouble remembering it, but listen closely, okay?”   


“Sure. I’m all ears!” Kaede kept an ear out, exaggerating like she was listening in on him.  
  
“My name… My name is Roxas.” The star said, rather hesitantly for some odd reason. Still, they followed up with a teasing tone. “Got it memorised?”  


“Got it memorised? But we just met!” Kaede huffed, though she wasn’t one bit upset. “I’ll remember it, don’t you worry. Now, how about I play another song for you? Three may be a crowd, but one’s a good enough audience for me.”   
  
Roxas’ form didn’t allow him to smile, but he laughed all the same. “Yeah. I’d love to listen to another piece of yours.”   
  
Kaede started to play another song, with Roxas listening all the while. A friendship had started to blossom between the two of them just by bonding over music… but destiny is never left to chance. 

This friendship was never meant to last. Not for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this fanfic was written before I played Re:MIND. If any details don't match up with what's in that part of KH3, that would explain why.
> 
> I was really inspired by a Danganronpa/Kingdom Hearts fanfiction I read which had Kaede become corrupted by Ansem. It was pretty cool, and then I thought to myself: "Man, The Other Promise is a really good song. I wonder if Kaede would play it in honour of Roxas." And, then, this fanfic was born.
> 
> While writing this, I was listening to The Other Promise 24/7. That... is probably going to explain why this fanfic will turn out to be mostly depressing, albeit uplifting in some aspects.
> 
> Roxas continues to be an underused character in the Kingdom Hearts Franchise. More at 11.


	2. Day Two - Requiems

_"So then, if something happens, and Riku's about to get lost... or say... he starts wandering down a dark path alone — you make sure to stay with him, and keep him safe. That's your job, Sora, and I'm counting on you to do it, okay?"_

  * _Aqua speaking to Sora on the Destiny Islands, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep._



* * *

The second day—only signified by the sun rising high into the sky—began with the fluttering of Kaede’s eyelids. Without having even realised it, she had fallen asleep, even without feeling fatigue or tiredness. She hadn’t moved at all from her position (thank goodness), but she was still in the neverending void she was trapped in. Could be worse, though. Better to be safe and alone than in danger with a bunch of people.

...Like she had been back on Earth when she had been trapped in that academy.  
  
Those painful memories would do nothing but cause her to be upset again, so she simply sat up straight, staring far across into the horizon again. An endless sea of blue, as far as the eye can see… It was still so incredible. Kaede had never felt alone, yet so _calm_ at the same time. Maybe being here forever wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

Kaede looked behind her to see if Roxas was still there. As she had thought, Roxas was still in place, albeit slightly to the left. However, unlike his star form the night before, Kaede could now make out a somewhat humanoid form, even though the sparkles of light still dusted the humanoid figure. Standing up, he was only just a few inches shorter than Kaede, and his hair looked kinda spiky… It kind of reminded her of Kaito’s hair, actually.  
  
Nonetheless, the pianist softly greeted Roxas, waving to him as he looked up to her.

“Hello, Roxas. I’d say good morning, but…” Kaede chuckled. “It’s hard to tell if it’s morning or afternoon.”

Roxas shook his head, sounding amused himself. “Oh, please. In a place like this, you don’t _need_ to tell the time. Still…” He waved to her as well. “Good morning, Kaede. I’ve got to say, your piano playing was really impressive.”

“Oh, thank you… I’m so glad you think so. It’s my talent, I’m sure you already know.”

“Yeah, you told me that last night.” The starry silhouette put his hand to his chin. “I’ve gotta admit, you’re _exceptionally_ good at the piano. A lot more than any normal person would be.” Roxas looked up to her. “What’s your story? Why are you so good with the piano?”  
  
Kaede hummed. “Are you interested in long stories?”

Laughing, Roxas shook his head. “I’ve been the subject of one, myself. Just tell me. What made you want to play the piano?”

“What made me want to...? Gosh, good question...”  
  
Kaede closed her eyes, and a fresh wave of memories made her smile without even registering it. From the moment she hit her first few piano keys as a child, she knew that it was something she had wanted to do. Whether it was playing for fun, or performing at an international and prestigious scale, Kaede had fallen in love with playing the piano, owing itself to her title of Ultimate Pianist. The pianist smiled, opening her eyes and staring right at Roxas as she spoke.  
  
“I… had felt this desire to. Like I wanted it, deep down inside my heart.” Kaede put her hand on her chest, looking down as if she could take a look inside her own heart. “I can’t say that I can pin that feeling to something that happened as a kid, but I know for certain that I don’t regret a second of it. Playing the piano is a gift not everyone can get to experience, even if I’d love to teach them how.”

Roxas mused aloud, crossing his arms. “You should feel lucky, you know. Not everyone can just follow their heart’s wishes like that.”

The pianist looked up, noting Roxas’ somewhat dejected expression. “What makes you say that, Roxas? Is something wrong?”

He stayed silent for a moment, before asking a different question. “Tell me… what it was like living the life you had. Was playing the piano really a good way of expressing yourself like that?”

“...Well, I’d imagine so.” Kaede closed her eyes again, recalling playing for powerful figures of high importance. “I got to show how I felt to other people. Whether it was happiness or sadness, everyone could feel my emotions through the way I played. People say music is a universal language, and for the piano, it’s especially true. I could even play to other pianists and have them understand how _I_ felt, even when we were worlds apart.”

Roxas quirked an eyebrow. “Worlds apart? What makes you say that?”

“Well, you see…” Kaede looked his way, opening her eyes and speaking with a sheepish expression. “I’m… not just an ordinary pianist. I’m the **Ultimate Pianist.** I don’t mean to brag, but I’m… kinda considered to be the best of the best.”

Roxas had been caught off guard, taking a step back as he vocalised his sure surprise. “Whoa… The **Ultimate Pianist?** That’s amazing! No wonder I could feel your music… the emotion from that piece you made drew me towards you.”

Kaede herself was somewhat confused, before scrunching up her face. “You know, I don’t think I’ve had the chance to ask you... Who _are_ you? Where did you come from? I might know your name, but I don’t know exactly _who_ you are.”  
  
The young man laughed, looking far out beyond the horizon as he spoke. “I’m… nobody. I guess that’s what people like me—if you want to think of me like one—are called. Nobody.”  
  
“Well, that’s not right!” Kaede crossed her arms and pouted. “We’re good friends, and the fact of the matter is that you’re somebody to me. You’re not just _nobody,_ Roxas.”

“That’s where you’d be wrong, Kaede.” Roxas chuckled, looking up to her with a sad yet content expression. “I’m quite literally a **Nobody.** People like me—we wouldn’t have the lives you have. Your talent with the piano can’t just be replaced. I, however…” Roxas closed his eyes. “I can be.”

“Replaced? That’s not true.” Kaede shook her head. “You’re human, aren’t you?”  
  
“Like I said, I’m a Nobody. It’s hard to explain, but…” Sighing, Roxas held his hands forward, staring through them as the shimmering light around it twinkled and brightened. “I’m… not meant to exist. My thoughts, my feelings, my existence—it’s just not meant to be.” He looked back up to Kaede, sounding almost bitter. “Nobodies aren’t meant to have feelings. All of these things I know and felt are just borrowed from someone else. Without them, I wouldn’t be here right now. That’s… why I wanted to know about you, Kaede. You have something you can’t just replace—a heart full of light.”

The pianist tilted her head. “I’m… I’m afraid I don’t understand. Wouldn’t you have a heart as well? I mean, even Nobodies have to _feel_ something, don’t they?”  
  
The young man shook his head. “Nothing. If I were to play the piano right now, you would hear music, but there’d be nothing behind it.”

“...That’s awful.” Kaede mumbled, looking down.

“It might be, but it’s the truth. I’m not a whole person. I’m… just the other side of someone else’s thoughts and feelings.” Roxas closed his eyes. “But it does make me wonder why I’m here.”

“Oh?” Kaede inquired. “What makes you say that?”

“Nobodies like me aren’t meant to exist. To _be._ The question I always asked when I _was_ was kind of a simple one.” He opened his eyes and looked up to the pianist. “Where do people like me go when our nonexistence comes to an end? Do we join up with someone that makes us whole, or do we go somewhere else?”

Kaede pondered on the question, looking far out towards the edges of the universe as she came up with an answer. She chuckled. “Well, regardless of where you should or shouldn’t be, and if you _are_ or _are not…”_ Kaede looked Roxas’ way, looking genuinely happy as she smiled. “I’m glad you’re here with me. Being here on my own would be really lonely, and I know for certain no one would want to spend the rest of their nonexistence on their own.”

Those words hung in the air for a moment, silence only meeting her speech. She had almost been afraid that she had said something wrong, only for Roxas to start laughing. It had trickled from a chuckle, before flowing into a hearty laugh that came from his stomach. Before Kaede knew it, she was starting to laugh as well, even if she didn’t know why. Wiping a tear of laughter from her eye, it soon came to an end, Roxas speaking as he looked up to her.

“You know, you really _do_ remind me of that person I know. Right from being kind and caring, to saying the sappiest stuff!” Roxas covered his mouth with the back of his hand to stop himself from laughing. “But… I can’t say that’s a bad thing, though. Just like him, I can tell that you’ve got a heart filled with light. Maybe that’s why you’re here.”

After her laughter subsided, Kaede looked up to Roxas with a curious expression.

“I do have to ask… Who _is_ this person? You mentioned him yesterday. I’d like to know his name when I eventually meet him.”

With a smile, Roxas looked back towards the horizon, a name escaping from his lips with a light whisper.

**_“...Sora.”_ **

Kaede’s eyes widened. “Is that his name? Sora? He sounds nice…”  
  
“He is. He’s what makes me Roxas. I’m… I’m the other part of him, Kaede.” Closing his eyes, the smile on his face soon dipped down to a thin, straight line. “I’m Sora’s Nobody. Once I joined with him a long time ago, I’ve wandered here for a while.”

“Oh… I see. That’s really something, but I don’t know much about Nobodies and the such.” Kaede sighed, interlocking her fingers together.  
  
“You don’t need to. What you _should_ know is where you are, even if I’m only guessing myself.” He opened a single eye in response.

Perking up, Kaede’s eyes met Roxas’ own. Any answer as to where he was would help ease her fears. “What do you know about this place, Roxas? Maybe we might be able to get out of here and go back home!”

“I don’t know about that. I’ve been wandering here for a long, long time, but the people I’ve met and the people I _haven’t_ met kind of tell the story for me. You see, Kaede…” Roxas’ eyes lowered downward, soaking in Kaede’s transparent body which seemed to flicker every here and then. “There’s… no guarantee we might be able to go back where we came from.”

Kaede’s hope had been slighly dashed, but she pressed on nonetheless. “What makes you say that?”

“Just a hunch from my days when I was still ‘alive’.” Roxas’ gaze drew upward towards Kaede’s face. “The people that are here aren’t… exactly _whole,_ to put it simply. I’m a Nobody, so it’s my conscience that remains instead of my heart and my soul. Your body is still whole, if not a bit transparent, and that’s because **you don’t have your conscience.”**

The pianist stayed slack-jawed, before speaking softly. “I… don’t have my conscience? What do you mean?”

“Only my mind remained after joining Sora. The thing that made me wasn’t my heart or my emotions; it was my conscience, the one thing that persisted even on after I left.” Roxas stared down at his hands. “When it comes to the body as we know it, there are three important things: the heart, the soul, and the mind. Everybody has to have a soul, or else we wouldn’t exist—we’d only be copies of someone else. Our mind is what gives our soul the makings of ourselves—what makes you and I different. Our heart is what gives us a form to take—it represents our feelings and our emotions. 

“It’s why, when you first saw me, I was stuck in that star form. I could only gain a heart through gaining emotions and feelings, but being a Nobody means I didn’t have that luxury. I could only regain even a little bit of my normal form because of the emotions in your piece; the connection I made with you meant I could at least have a body again.” Roxas pointed at Kaede. “Look at your body, for instance. You’ve got your body, but you’re still a little see-through. Why do you think that may be?”

Kaede didn’t need to think twice before answering, looking totally melancholic. 

“...It’s because the form you see me as… is just my heart and feelings.”

“That’s correct.” Roxas closed his eyes. “While someone can gain a heart through a strong connection with someone else, one’s mind can’t be gained from somebody else. Whatever happened to you while you were still existing might mean your conscience was totally separated from you.”

“So it’s hopeless, then…” Kaede mumbled, looking at her hands with a sad expression on her face. “There’s no chance of me going back at all, is there?”

“Not necessarily.” Roxas looked determined, clenching his fists. “If someone’s mind is strong enough, it can stick around in the ‘living world’. Kind of like someone’s lingering will.” The young man noted. “Think about the legacy you left behind while you were ‘alive’. **How do you know a part of you wasn’t left behind to look over your friends?”**

Kaede took a moment to think. Had she left anything behind to look after the people she left behind back home? She thought. She thought, and thought, and thought—and then it hit her. Something that she did leave behind.  
  
“...The promise… that I made…”  
  
Kaede’s eyes grew glassy and full of tears as it all came flooding back to her now. Everything she had said at the end of the trial, everything that she had worked towards—everything she left behind for her friends. For Shuichi. For _herself._

“T-The dream… that I left behind…!”

The dream that she had was that everyone would get out of the Killing Game and stay friends after it all. She was an avid dreamer, and always believed that if you worked hard enough, any dream of yours could become true. It was no wonder, then, that something was left behind after all.

  
“It was… **my wish!** The one thing that I left behind! It was **my wish,** Roxas! _My conscience is still stuck back home with Shuichi and the others!”_

Roxas could do nothing as Kaede began to weep. The chance of her getting home was slim, but it broke her heart knowing that she couldn’t be there in person to cheer everyone on. She could only hope that the conscience that remained at the academy would be able to guide everyone out of there, but there was nothing else that she could do but cry. Crying tears of joy knowing that her wish could be carried on, crying tears of hope that everything would be okay, crying tears of grief knowing she wouldn’t be able to see them get out of their situation personally. It was a heartbreaking revelation, and Kaede couldn’t tell if it was for the best that she knew or if it was better that she didn’t know at all.

Wordlessly, Roxas did what he felt Sora would do in that situation; he walked forward, reached his arms out, and slowly embraced Kaede. Even if he didn’t know how to feel properly yet, he still felt as if this was the right thing to do. 

Kaede’s crying continued for what felt like minutes, Roxas not budging an inch as he comforted her. Memories and emotions spiralled within her, not dousing her hope but instead reenforcing it despite all of her tears. 

Kaede’s crying slowed to a trickle. Snivelling, hiccuping—all of the things that proved she had tuckered herself out.

And then, silence.

Kaede Akamatsu had fallen asleep again, and Roxas propped her head up onto something so she could rest her head on something whilst she began to dream.

...Roxas still watched her dutifully, however. There was something about her dreams that brought him forward, peering in within them as he saw what she had begun to dream (for, in this world, one’s dreams and memories can come to life if willed strongly enough). The world transformed around him as he began to see Kaede’s last moments before her existence came to an end.

Slowly, but surely, the Key of Destiny’s body regained colour, and a silhouette of Roxas was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a few liberties with Sleeping Worlds and the Final World, but GodDAMN was that a genius idea on my part.
> 
> Technically, where I live, it's April Fools' Day, but this chapter is far from a prank.


	3. Day Three - Dreams

**_“The heart has always been quick to grow._ ** _Each exposure to light, to the natural world, to other people, shapes this most malleable part inside of us. Nobodies are not different from us in that manner. Sora was the only one able to return to his human form without destroying his Nobody._ **_That is a statement to the love in his heart for other people, and the bonds that tie them together._ ** _Perhaps...he has the power to bring back the hearts and existences of those connected to him—to recreate people we thought were lost to us forever. Our most precious treasures—even an empty puppet—the trees of the forest, and the petals on the wind—_ **_there are hearts around us everywhere we look._ ** _And it does not take superhuman powers to see them. Surely we remember as children the way our hearts made everything seem so shiny, and perfect. Sora has a heart like that—uncorrupted, willing to see the good before the bad._ **_When he sees the heart in something, it then becomes real.”_ **

  * _Ansem the Wise speaking to Riku within the depths of Sora’s heart, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance._



* * *

The third day began with the gentle sound of Kaede’s piano playing. This particular piece, Kaede felt, was a perfect song to describe her emotions. A bittersweet piano piece that perfectly conveyed her desire for all that she has lost. For a promise she wasn’t able to fulfil; for all the friends she had failed to get out of that awful Killing Game; for a precious life she had so carelessly thrown away trying to kill the mastermind.

Ah, yes. Edward MacDowell’s _To a Wild Rose._ Even if it wasn’t Clair de Lune, it was an easy, emotional piece for her to play, especially whilst passing the time in this strange world she was within. 

Roxas, Kaede had come to notice, now had some sort of colour to him; it was faint, yes, but she could at least now make out certain details of Roxas’ being. He was wearing a simple outfit: a black zip-up shirt with black and beige pants, wearing a white-and-black checkerboard pattern bracelet on his wrist. A white jacket clued Kaede in on one thing: Roxas seriously had an affinity for black and white. It fit him, though. The pianist couldn’t see him wearing anything else.

Playing the piano was truly cathartic when she was in a world as boring as this. Of course, the world was visually stunning, but it always felt like the same clouds drifted over the sky. It may have been a few days, but it already felt like an eternity. The one thing she could never get sick of was playing the piano, and particularly so given that it was her one escape from the uncertainty her thoughts plagued her with while she was alone.

Roxas himself had taken to listening to Kaede’s piano pieces, the songs providing him just a bit more hope when it came to waiting this thing out. Little by little, he could feel all sorts of emotions seeping out from the music. However, this one in particular didn’t feel as if Kaede was playing it from the deepest recesses of her heart… as if she was holding something back. 

It was in the middle of playing _To a Wild Rose_ when the young man asked a question out of the blue, looking her way with crossed arms.   
  
“...Kaede. I wanted to ask you something.”

The pianist continued to play the piano, though she looked his way nonetheless. “Yeah? What’s the problem?”  
  
“It’s about your dreams.” Roxas stated, walking up to her and resting his arm on the piano. “We’ve… got a lot to talk about.” 

Though she continued to play the piano, a single drop of sweat trailed the side of the pianist’s face. If there was one thing she was unaware of, it was the fact that Roxas could see her dreams—and the moment that she died would continue to be a recurring nightmare of hers. Putting on a calm face, she acknowledged Roxas’ question, but dared not to look in his eyes as she continued to play. “If… If there’s something you want to ask, then ask it.”

“Alright, then.” Roxas fully got off the piano, gesticulating as he motioned and tapped his forehead. “Someone’s dreams tend to tell a lot about who they are. Someone that’s full of darkness will have awfully warped dreams—most of which will always linger with darkness within every corner. It’s a scent that anybody would be aware of. Someone that embodies light, however, has dreams filled with light, and it’s reflected in their dreams having little to no darkness whatsoever, if any at all.”

Kaede nodded, still playing the piano. “Yeah… I understand. What’s your point?”

“In your dreams, you supposedly killed someone.”

Kaede’s piano playing ended right there, the woman’s face being totally drained of colour as she bit back her own disgust at remembering it. “Yes, that… That’s true. How did you…?”

“In a world like the one we’re in now, your memories and your emotions can take life in the form of **a Sleeping World.** It’d take a strong person to dive into them, and I’ve never done it before, but I figured it might be worth seeing when something caught my eye.” Roxas closed his eyes. “I saw… you. Completely alone. The only person that was there was someone… called ‘Shuichi Saihara’. You mentioned him yesterday regarding your conscience. That’s how he introduced himself before that dream started. Maybe it’s better to call it a nightmare.”

The pianist stayed silent, clutching her arm in silence. Roxas continued.  
  
“What I saw was… a trial of some kind. Specifically, a trial concerning the death of someone named ‘Rantaro’. I’m confused, Kaede. I’m confused because the culprit was apparently you, and it doesn’t make any sense.”

“There’s not a lot _to_ understand, Roxas.” Kaede spat out, narrowing her eyes and staring at the piano keys with an uncharacteristic bitterness. “I… I don’t want to believe it, but I killed Rantaro, and I paid the price for it. Whether it’s a dream or a memory, it’s the truth.”

Roxas nodded. “Exactly. So why is it that someone with a heart like yours has a memory as awful as that without any darkness surrounding it?”  
  
Kaede looked up, glaring at the young man with a hurt expression. “Do we _have_ to talk about this? I already accepted that I killed Rantaro. There’s nothing to discuss.”

“There _is_ something to discuss, Kaede!” Roxas raised his voice, narrowing his eyes as he looked down on her. “You say that you’ve accepted that you’ve done it, that you’re the one that killed him **—but your dreams had barely any darkness in them at all!”**

Snapping, Kaede looked up to Roxas, standing from her seat. “And why does that matter?! I killed Rantaro Amami because I wanted to kill the mastermind, and I _failed!_ I killed Rantaro, and I paid the price! I was… I was…” The pianist closed her eyes, biting back through the tears that were starting to. “I was executed… and it’s what I deserved for killing Rantaro. He’s gone, Roxas. It doesn’t matter if I accept it or not—he’s gone, and he’s not coming back.”

Snivelling, Kaede wiped her tears with her jacket sleeve, sitting back down and trying to forget all of those memories. There was no experience worse than remembering the searing pain that occured as she died. Being strangled and tossed around like a ragdoll… It was a memory she didn’t want anyone to see, much less have happened to them. After a while, Roxas spoke up again, walking up to her and looking down unto her.  
  
“...Our memories and our emotions are the most precious parts of us, but not every emotion you feel and every memory you have are real. False memories exist, after all. While I was watching that trial of yours, it sounded convincing, but something didn’t seem right. I didn’t think you did it—some evidence didn’t add up, and you could have easily misremembered something.”

Kaede failed to respond. Roxas continued on.

“It doesn’t matter what happened, because as you said, Rantaro’s gone. Your life, too, was lost since you were executed. It was awful, seeing you thrown around like that… I never thought someone could be so brutal.” Roxas put a hand to his chest. “For the first time, my heart… or, well, what I _felt_ from you… ached. I’m surprised you can continue to play the piano after all of that.”   
  
“It’s what I had to do—no, I _needed_ to do it.” Kaede mumbled. “All I need to stay alive is to play the piano. As long as people remember the pieces I play, I won’t ever die.”   
  
“...That’s what you believe? That your conscience will live on as long as people remember you?”   
  
Kaede looked up, her eyes dried up even if they were still a bit puffy. “Yeah. It’s why… It’s why I gave a song I cared for to Shuichi… so he wouldn’t forget me.”

“I see…” The Nobody hummed, before offering a hand to Kaede. “How about I show you one of my most treasured memories? Maybe it might cheer you up seeing a part of me that I’ve never gotten to show anyone else.”

Though Kaede had hesitated, something had compelled her to reach forward and grab his hand. Swallowing down her grief, Kaede nodded; her voice barely raised above a whisper. “I’d love to. It’s only fair after you got to see one of mine.”

Nodding, Roxas closed his eyes, as did Kaede. The world around them began to change. A bright summer sun gave way to the world of twilight as the sky became a soft orange and purple, the sun moving far beyond the horizon and illuminating the city before them. Opening their eyes, the duo found themselves over the edge of a clock tower, looking out far beyond the realm of the world they had been in. There was no denying what they were seeing: this world was one that was close to Roxas, seen as he sat on the edge of the clock tower. The pianist stayed on her piano, sitting above the skyline. How she and the piano stayed in the air without falling was a question she would fail to answer. The view was incredible; the Nobody sure had it good when it came to pleasant memories.

Roxas spoke up, grabbing something out of his jacket pocket as he held it to the dusk-borne sun. It was a blue crystal, shimmering with radiant light—Kaede noted that the shade of blue was the same as his eyes. “This… This is Twilight Town. The most important place in my memories.”

“It looks gorgeous...” Kaede noted, still mesmerised by the brilliant rush of colours that shone within Roxas’ memories. “I’m not surprised you remember this place so well when it’s easily so… so…”

“Beautiful?”  
  
“Yeah… Yeah, it’s beautiful.” She whispered, before looking in Roxas’ direction and being surprised at what she saw.

Sitting next to Roxas were a group of three friends. One young man had blonde hair—not the same shade as Roxas’—and was busy messing around with another friend of his. That same friend was black-haired with a headband and a red singlet with some striking imagery on it. Lastly, the lone female in the group—a brunette with green eyes—laughed at the both of them teasing each other. Kaede had noticed that they all had one thing in common; they were all eating some sort of blue ice cream. Roxas himself had lost that blue crystal, changing it into an ice cream as he began to eat it.  
  
“These… were my friends.” Roxas closed his eyes, taking in the taste of the ice cream. “Hayner… Pence… Olette. A long time ago, these three were the closest people to me. I remember hanging out with them during the whole summer. We did a lot of things together. We did jobs for munny, had a bunch of fun together around Twilight Town… We hung out up here every day, eating this ice cream without a care in the world.”

Kaede blinked, before Roxas threw something her way—one of the blue ice creams. She looked at it curiously, before he laughed and motioned for her to eat it.

“Come on, Kaede. I promise you… it’s one of the best flavours you’ll ever try.”

The pianist paused for a moment, looking at it oddly, before deciding to lift it up and take a bite of it. The taste was indescribable. A sweetness that couldn’t be rivalled by any sort of cooking Kirumi could muster up flooded her mouth; conversely, a salty taste complimented the sweetness, proving to be an experience that she wouldn’t ever be able to forget. With all her taste buds sated, she merely said three words in response.

“Salty… but sweet.”  
  
Roxas began to laugh. “I know, right? That’s exactly what I said!” 

Kaede herself could feel laughter bubble up within her, the duo laughing whilst the imaginary group of friends Roxas had continued their make-believe play fight. When Kaede opened her eyes, she wiped a tear of laughter from one, asking yet another question.  
  
“So… what happened to them? Your friends, I mean.”   
  
The Nobody’s gaze drifted downwards, looking over the city as he spoke. “There was… a time where I lost all my memories. I was put into a place that was fake—just data. These friends I had cared for so much… The memories that I had with them…” Roxas sadly looked to the side through the images of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. “They were all fabricated. These guys were my friends—but I never knew them at all.”   
  
“Oh… Oh, my…” Kaede found herself not willing to eat her ice cream anymore. “I’m… sorry to hear that.”   
  
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Roxas looked up to Kaede, a slight smile on his face. “During that time, I felt like I barely knew myself at all. It was only after joining up with Sora again that I could remember another friend that I hung out with all the time.”

Slowly, Roxas’ prior friends had faded away, and in their place was a single man with red hair and strikingly cyan eyes. Single purple tear marks dotted beneath his eyes, and he was eating an ice cream of his own. Kaede had noticed that Roxas’ once monochrome outfit had faded into something a lot more simple; a black coat that fit him snugly, black gloves complimenting his outfit as well. Looking out over the horizon, Roxas smiled—but, for some reason, Kaede felt like **someone was missing** from this whole picture.

“...I knew this person for almost a year. From the moment I first existed… right up to before I joined up with Sora. His name was Axel.”

“Axel…” Kaede tilted her head. “He kind of reminds me of a friend of mine. He looks like the kind of guy that would’ve wanted to go to space.”  
  
“With this guy? I’m sure he’d have loved to.” The Nobody closed his eyes. “Axel was a Nobody like me. We both bonded over a lot of things since we worked together as comrades. Just like my other friends, we spent our free time just hanging out up here and talking about anything.”

“...And something happened?” Kaede sadly mused. Roxas’ expression changed from one of contentedness to one of sorrow, thinking about what could have been.  
  
“Something happened, yeah. I… I wanted to leave the Organisation—the thing we both worked in—but I can’t remember why. I know that there was a reason, but I just totally blank out thinking about it.” With a sigh, Roxas looked up to the sky. “It’s not like it matters anymore, now. There’s no chance of me ever finding out exactly why I left the Organisation, so I should just think about these memories. You said that you’ll never die as long as people remember you… so I’ll do my part and think about them.”

With little else being said, Kaede looked up to the twilight sky. Being compelled to play another piano piece, Kaede closed her eyes, and let Roxas’ memories do the playing for her—a soft melody began to play, Roxas eating his ice cream as the piano notes hit his ears. The sound of the piano was always enough to evoke emotions that he’d never thought he would be able to feel.   
  
“What do you call this one, Kaede?” Roxas smiled.   
  
“...I think… this one should be called… **‘At Dusk, I Will Think Of You’.”** Kaede replied, still engrossed in playing her piano. She had finished her ice cream at that point, the stick laying on the ground next to her.

  
“A wordy title… but it fits.” Roxas leaned back against the clock tower.

Thoughts of his past friends came back to him, making the Nobody smile. Maybe one day, he would be able to meet them all one more time and eat ice cream together. That would be nice… and perhaps being able to remember who it was he defected from the Organisation for would help him sleep better at night. On Kaede’s end, things were largely the same; if she had lived a little longer, she’d have loved to stay behind and hang out with all of her newfound friends. It would be more than worth it to get to know them better… but it all came to an end before she could see that dream come to fruition.

Kaede ceased playing the piano, looking in Roxas' direction. "Hey, Roxas?"

Though not in full corporeal form, she could make out that Roxas was looking her way with crystal clarity. "Yeah?"

"Did... you ever have someone close to your heart? Someone you might have even felt feelings for?"

The silence was deafening, even with the piano strokes once having filled the air with sweet, silky notes. Though it had been a few minutes, Roxas replied at last, a hollow chuckle escaping his lips.

"We Nobodies don't _have_ hearts, Kaede. Even now, I can't tell you if what I'm feeling is real or not since those emotions mostly belong to your piano pieces. But, to tell the truth..."

A single tear fell down both of Roxas' cheeks.

"...I had someone I cared for like that once. If Nobodies aren’t meant to be whole, then maybe the times I had with them were the few moments that I felt complete.”

Neither of them said another word. Only the shifting of the twilight clouds and the soft, faint rushes of the winds through the clock tower signalled that time was still passing. After a while, the both of them returned to where they came from, the remnants of Twilight Town fading back into an everlasting nighttime as the third day came to a close.

  
Kaede’s ice cream stick, left behind within Roxas’ memories, had a single faded word on it.   
  
**_WINNER_ **


	4. Day Four - Regrets

**_“I was lost in the darkness. I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things—my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard a voice—your voice. You brought me back.”_ **

_ “I didn't want to just forget about you, Sora. I couldn't.” _

**_“That's it! Our hearts are connected. And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw that light. I think that's what saved me. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within.”_ **

  * _A conversation between Sora and Kairi within the Waterway of Traverse Town, Kingdom Hearts I._



* * *

The fourth day began when Kaede caught herself looking out towards the boundaries of this world she and Roxas were stuck in. Something she had noticed about the world was that, even though she had walked for a long while a few days ago, it never felt like she had actually moved anywhere—it felt as if she had stayed in the same position no matter how long she had moved for.    
  
Kaede was an observant person. She noticed little things that no one else did. She noticed how Roxas’ memories the previous day had been hazy when Axel was there, as if something was missing. She noticed how his body became more and more… well…  **_real_ ** by the day instead of being transparent like it had been previously. She noticed that, the more and more she played for him, the more she felt as if everything was going to turn out to be okay after all—that her conscience, even if it was still stuck on the world from whence she came, would still continue to inspire others to get out of the Killing Game she had left behind.

All in all, Kaede’s life was now… boring, she could suppose. The piano filled a hole in her heart that was in desperate need of filling, and Roxas’ company was all that she needed in order to continue functioning—but what if both of them were to disappear one day? What if Roxas had to leave somewhere because he had found peace at last? What if she decided to walk away and leave behind the piano that meant so much to her now? She didn’t want to think about it, so she just perished the thought, staring far, far beyond the world where they lived in now.

The fourth day came to a true beginning when Roxas asked a single question, dressed in his white jacket as he sat next to Kaede on the piano seat.

“...Do you have any regrets, Kaede?”

“Regrets?” Kaede looked at Roxas with slight surprise. Such a question being asked so bluntly was bound to catch her off guard. “Of what kind?”

Roxas looked beyond the horizon, speaking with a great sense of finality as he did so. “Of… your existence while still alive, I guess. If you could turn back time for even a moment, what would you change?”

Thinking about the question, the pianist had to admit that it was sprung upon her rather suddenly. There were a lot of things that Kaede would be more than pleased to change! To relive another one of her most dearly beloved concerts… to be able to experience the warmth of playing the piano for an audience… to return back to Earth at least one more time to stay with her newfound friends… The more she thought about it, the more she started to frown. There were too many things that she  _ did _ want to change. Sifting throughout her memories for a particular moment she wished to change, Kaede looked the same direction that Roxas was staring towards. 

“There is… one thing that I’d want to change… to experience one more time.” Kaede smiled, putting a hand to her chest as she mused aloud. “I want to spend one more night beneath the stars with my friends… with all the people I’ve made connections with. Just so I can be with them again.”

In response to her answer, the young man smiled, eyes flickering towards her. “You’ve spoken really fondly about them… I got to meet them in your dreams, myself.” Roxas laughed, lightly nudging Kaede’s side. “It seems you made a lot of good friends while you were still alive. Shuichi… Kaito… Miu, Tsumugi, Tenko, Korekiyo, Kirumi, Ryoma... Rantaro, too, while he was still around.” His expression then dimmed a bit, looking back towards the horizon. “I know that Nobodies can pretend to feel, but… the first thing I ever truly felt when looking into your dreams was sadness.”

“...Sadness?” Kaede asked quietly. “Why that emotion in particular?”

“Because you had a lot before it was all taken away from you.”

Roxas stood up and moved away from his seat, maneuvering around the piano so he could take in the infinite surroundings around him. He stared far, far into space, almost as if he was willing himself to go away the more and more that he stared. The soft wind rushing around him ruffled his hair, and it was at that moment that Kaede noted that Roxas’ form was fully corporeal and complete. Speaking softly yet firmly, Roxas pointed out beyond the blue skies.

“I… never had the chance to enjoy having friends like you did. A talent to be  _ proud _ of. I don’t understand for the life of me why you did the things you did when you had all the things I could have ever dreamed of…” Roxas smiled, much to Kaede’s surprise as he looked back towards her. “But… if there’s one thing that I’ve learned throughout the whole of my nonexistence, it’s that people like you and Sora are really unpredictable. Maybe there was a reason you did what you did—or maybe you never did it at all.”   
  
Kaede scrunched her face as she shook her head. “I’m not sure that I follow you. If you want me to be honest, you’ve got a lot of things I’d love to have, too.”   
  
“H-Huh?” That interjection truly caught Roxas off guard, taking a step back as he put a hand to his mouth in shock. “I… I do? What do you mean by that?”

“Sure, Nobodies might not be able to feel, and they might not be able to exist, either… but I don’t think that matters!” Kaede brightly spoke, standing up and matching Roxas’ shock with a genuine smile as she pumped her hand in the air. “You had a good ‘life’ as well, Roxas! You had friends that cared about you very much, as well as a fulfilled nonexistence that was just important as mine was!

“I don’t care if the relationships you had were real or fake—they still existed. The connections that you made were real! The moments that you shared with them—they were real, too! You talk about how much you wish that you had a real existence, but… from what I can tell, you’ve had one this whole time, and your experiences and memories you’ve had with them are living proof of that.” The pianist smiled, finishing off her words with a chuckle. “And, if you don’t believe your friendships were real because you can’t feel emotions… then I’d love to offer to be your friend.”

Roxas stood there slack jawed for a moment, in awe at what Kaede had to say about him. Perhaps these sentiments came to him as he thought over it in his time here, but he had always dismissed those feelings since he hadn’t seen them as real. However, this… this encouragement from Kaede awakened an emotion that Roxas hadn’t felt in a long while. Was this what it meant to feel hope? Softly, the young man spoke—barely above a whisper, yet Kaede heard it all the same.

“...A friend? You’d… really be willing to call me one?”

“Of course, Roxas.” Kaede’s smile brightened even further. “The time that we’ve spent together proves that you can feel something, even despite being a Nobody. Even then, why does it matter if you’re a Nobody?” The pianist laughed. “You’ll always be just Roxas to me. Not a Nobody—just Roxas.”

Kaede’s bright mood was challenged when she noticed that a single tear began to streak down Roxas’ cheek. It seemed almost as if he hadn’t realised yet that he was crying; he seemed just as perplexed when she pointed it out to him.

“Hey... Is something wrong? You’re crying, Roxas.”

“I am, huh…?” Roxas softly muttered, putting a hand to his cheek and wiping away the tear with a solemn laugh. “Don’t worry about me… I’ve just never heard anyone say anything like that to me before. To be thought of as a friend is an honour.” Again, he laughed, locking eyes with Kaede as he spoke. “You know… each and every day, I keep thinking that you’re just like Sora. You both always had such a good way with words.”

Kaede giggled. “What can I say? I know good people when I see them.”

“Yeah… I can tell.”

Roxas stayed quiet for a moment, silence filling the air before he spoke again.   
  
“Hey… Kaede?”   
  
Kaede tilted her head slightly. “Yes, Roxas?”    
  
“...Thank you. For being my friend, and for keeping my company.”

The pianist gasped lightly for a moment, before smiling and clasping her hands together. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s always nice to have someone to pass the time with in a place like this.”

Kaede sat down at last, playing the piano with as much emotion as she could pour into it as the time continued to pass. She noticed, again, that Roxas’ form began to glow with brilliant yellow colours, surging forward the more emotions she put into the song. Kaede’s gift with the piano truly could not be understated; music, being a universal language, could convey anything to people that could not understand the language they speak. Evidently, Kaede’s experiences with him and the music that she played for him taught Roxas how to feel, even if she had no way of knowing that yet. The young man had walked up to her and sat by her side again, talking when she had slowed down her piano playing. “Another great piano piece, Kaede. What do you call this one?”

Laughing, she looked down to him. “Well, I made it with you in mind… so I’ll name it after you. Just  **Roxas** will do, don’t you think?”   
  
“...I like that name.” Roxas chuckled, looking down at her fingers as she played it. All of a sudden, however, she ceased playing, looking down unto him with a curious expression.

“You know, you never answered that question, yourself.”

“Hm?” Roxas looked up to Kaede. “What do you mean?”

“Do you have any regrets? What would _you_ do if you could turn back time?”

He took a moment to think about it. After a few moments of recalling particularly important memories of his life, Roxas had come to a decision, speaking decisively. A certain memory had popped up the more he thought about it, and above all, he wanted to know about what he had forgotten.

“...While you were in my memories, you might have noticed that something—or, rather, someone—was missing… A gap that can’t really be filled.” Roxas looked up to Kaede, eyebrows furrowed with firm resolve. “I want… to know who it is I’ve forgotten. The person that I’ve forgotten this whole time—I want to remember them. I don’t know why, but I  _ want _ to remember them. Like… Like I’m obligated to. You know?”

“I think I can understand what you mean.” Kaede blinked once, looking down at her hands as the warm glow she felt recalling her times on Earth enveloped her completely. “When you forget something, it’s never really forgotten forever. Sometimes, it just takes a little bit of time to remember it—or even just some time with a good friend to help jog your memory.”   


“Maybe, but… I can’t help but feel like I might have forgotten them for good…”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t remember them again. As soon as you see something, hear something, taste something that reminds you of that person you’ve forgotten—you’ll remember everything about them with crystal clarity. Believe me, it’s not impossible.” Kaede smiled, tilting her head. “Maybe you might remember them clearly again soon enough.”

Though Roxas doubted that possibility, he still felt just a little bit at ease as her encouragement took root within him. The Nobody had to admit that Kaede really was reminding him of Sora… but that was where he started to frown. Kaede and Sora were one and the same the more he thought about it. Why was it that he saw someone else in his memories when he thought of them both? Someone… Someone that he was once good friends with. Closer than they were ever meant to be as Nobodies. They (no,  _ she) _ had a name. What was it? Why was the name so vivid on the tip of his tongue?   
  
Her name… Her name was…

“...I hope you’re right, Kaede. I feel as if I might be close to remembering them soon enough as long as I try. I’ve had a long time to think about this, so maybe I might be able to find out who they are sometime. It’s so clear to me, I…”

“It’s alright, Roxas.” Kaede’s ever-so-sweet smile put Roxas’ fears at true ease. “You can take as long as you need. Something tells me that you’ve got all the time in the world to remember as much as you need.”   
  
In return, Roxas smiled back. “Alright… I’ll take my time. I could wait as long as I needed if it meant I’d remember them one more time.”

From there, idle chit-chat filled the air and continued until the sun in this world set at last, the moon hanging over the star-scattered sky and illuminating the mirror-like floor. Kaede herself had fallen asleep on the piano, her soft snoozing being quiet yet elegant—a detail that Roxas amusedly noted. He was still awake, of course, and that couldn’t quite be helped given the fact that something was still on his mind. It was something that he couldn’t quite shake off. Standing far away from the piano—just far enough that he could breathe and speak to himself, but not far enough that he would lose sight of the pianist and become lost forever.

The object that had been weighing on his mind was… well, that person he had forgotten. Memories and theories tended to flare up whenever he thought about Kaede and Sora. Why was it thinking about both of them that made Roxas wince and his mouth go through the motions of whispering someone’s name? What happened during the memories he had forgotten to think this way about someone Roxas had just met, and his one and only Somebody?   
  
Slowly, but surely, Roxas closed his eyes, and the environment surrounding him had given way to his dreams and memories and taking form the more he thought about it. Twilight Town was a welcome sight, but something was compelling him to be here again. He sat down at the edge of the clock tower and continued to think. There was something that he was missing. Someone that he sat with here alongside Axel. For some reason, he had the feeling that this person had to do with both Kaede and Sora.

One of the memories he had from his days working in Organisation XIII thanks to Vexen was the importance of analysing information he had beforehand. Of course, it would do him far better if he critically thought about the situation he was in.

This person that Roxas was thinking of only entered his mind when he thought of the times he spent with Axel; ergo, this person must have been close with them, and had something to do with Organisation XIII. Another Nobody, perhaps?

This person that Roxas was thinking of only entered his mind when he thought of Sora and Kaede together. Sora’s heart was connected to many others, but Roxas was certain Sora didn’t know who Kaede was yet. Ergo, this person must have something to do with Sora. Now, what of the connection to Kaede?

This person was in Organisation XIII, and has something to do with Sora. Kaede being included must give a clue towards an attribute that the person Roxas is thinking of. A girl, maybe… but there were only two girls that Roxas was aware of that were Nobodies. Larxene… The thought made him shake his head from disappointment. There was also Naminé, but Roxas knew her as clear as day, even if his mind was fuzzy…

A female Nobody that hung out with himself and Axel during the days in Organisation XIII and has a connection with Sora… Who was she? What significance did she have to continuously reappear again and again whenever he—

...Roxas’ eyes widened. He stood up at last, and the fabricated world around him gave way to the Final World as he remembered with full clarity. The surge of memories was far too much for him at first, and particularly so given the volume he was remembering. From the moment she first came to the Organisation, to the moment Roxas had personally struck her down and tried to remember her one more time—it all came to him like a flood, causing him to groan in pain and clutch his head. 

Yet, the Nobody could not stop himself from crying. Throughout the moments he spent with Kaede, he had made a connection with the pianist, and that connection brought about emotions that he never thought he could experience. The impossible became possible thanks to the will of Kaede overcoming such barriers. At last, Roxas’ form became real, and not just a shimmering apparition of who he once was when he “existed”. These emotions and experiences came to a head as tears started to fall down his cheeks. 

On the fourth day, the first emotion that Roxas felt when he began to truly exist was sorrow.

_ “X… Xion! _ I can’t believe it… I can’t believe I forgot you for so long!”   


At last, the Serendipitous Key made his decision with resolve, as much as it would soon hurt him in the upcoming days.

“I’ll… I’ll come back for you! I promise!”

**_“You, me, and Axel will sit on the clock tower one more time… We’ll be good friends again! I’m not losing you both again! I won’t allow it!”_ **

  
  
  
  


With growing unease in her heart, Kaede moved her head whilst asleep.

...Something felt like it was going to go wrong.

Almost as if… these wonderful times she was going through would soon come to an end.


	5. Day Five - Lamentations

_ “What's your problem?! You both...think you can do whatever you want! Well, I'm sick of it! Go on, you just keep running...but I'll always be there to  _ **_bring you back!”_ **

  * _An exclamation from Axel to Xion on the 356th day, “Place to Belong”; Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days._



* * *

The fifth day began with a single sentence in the middle of Kaede’s piano playing.

“I’ve decided to return where I came from.”

Kaede’s fingers pressed down on the notes they were playing, the pianist frozen in shock as she slowly looked Roxas’ way. Such a statement coming out of the blue would be sure to confuse anyone that wasn’t prepared for it. Gulping nervously, she laughed softly, looking up to Roxas. Surely, she must have misheard him—what does that sentence even mean, anyway? Her voice didn’t waver, but she was unable to stop her pleading gaze.   
  
“...Hah. Hahah. Where did that come from, Roxas?” Kaede failed to meet his eyes. “Return… to where you come from? You mean back to Sora, then?”

“No. Sora and I are different people—even if I did come from him in the first place. I mean…” With a sigh, Roxas looked out beyond the horizon, the sunlit sky stretching far and wide beyond places he knew he wouldn’t be able to ever see. “I’m going back… to where I came from. To my friends. To… To the person I’ve forgotten.”   
  
Kaede’s (physical) heart practically stopped, balking at the prospect as she finally looked at Roxas' face. The Nobody had a resolute, if not solemn expression on his face, eyes looking not at the void in front of him, but at a destination he knew he wanted to return to. Of course, the pianist had no right to stop him, but that didn’t mean she could just accept his decision when it came so suddenly. Closing her eyes, Kaede focused more on the piano, asking a simple question to distract herself from the implications of his words.  


“So… you must have found that person you were wanting to remember.”   


“I… I did. Her name is… Xion.” Roxas winced, staring down at his hands as he sadly remarked on the person that he had forgotten. “It’s difficult to explain… but I suddenly remembered her last night. And I have you to thank for that, Kaede.”

“H… Huh?” The pianist’s back straightened, now putting full attention upon the Nobody. “I… I’m the reason you remembered her? But why…?”

“...Are you interested in long stories?”

Kaede smiled, albeit with light hurt on her features. “I’ve been the subject of one, myself.”

“Good. This one… is more or less about how things work in this place.” Roxas amusedly noted, turning around to face her as he explained everything that he was aware of. He always  _ was _ the smarter one out of himself and Sora, so his explanation was bound to be what was basically the truth as far as they knew.

“...I told you the day after you came here that what remained of yourself was your heart and feelings. You, as I see you right now, are simply your heart and feelings. You can’t gain your mind from someone else, because that’s  _ you, _ and nobody can take away your identity. However, emotions and feelings can… be  _ siphoned _ from someone, if I say something like that.” Roxas paused, before continuing.

“There’s no denying that the mind can’t be replaced, because that’s what makes us ourselves… but you and Sora have a gift that no one else can replicate. The ability to make connections with the people you meet—the ability to make an impact on multiple hearts, the ability to be friends with the unlikeliest of people—means that you can share experiences with anyone you wish to. The ways you both do it, however, are a lot more different than I could imagine.”

Kaede was shocked enough to stay silent for a moment, only raising her voice when she found the courage to speak. “How… How do you mean?”

“Sora’s got the natural ability to make friends with people just by being himself and, uh,  _ figuratively _ wearing his heart on his sleeve. Whenever he meets someone new, he can connect with them just by bearing his heart to them and having them confide in him as a true friend. His personality means he can shrug off the worst of despair if he just believes in his friends—and if they believe in him back, that connection becomes stronger, still.

“From the brief time I spent walking around in your dreams, I also felt the same sort of love you had for everyone else. Your time in the Realm of Light had you make friends with fifteen other people and leave a significant impact on them, for better or for worse. When I first heard your piano playing, I… I felt a rush of emotion—of hurt, loneliness, sorrow… I think that’s what drew me to you for the first time… and that’s why I regained the ability to feel and remember all these things thanks to you.”  
  
“I’m the reason you’re completely whole?” Kaede interjected quickly, putting a hand to her head and being overwhelmed by his explanation. “Hold… Hold on… but how could I have given you those emotions? This doesn’t make any sense!”   
  
“It might not make any, but this is the most sense I can make of the situation as I’ve seen it.” Roxas pointed to his chest, where his heart was. “The emotions I felt in your piano playing were enough to… well, let’s say they stuck with me. Every hopeful note, despairful tune, and every emotion in-between in your pieces was enough to give me the will to gain emotions of my own. I’m… I’m whole, now. I needed a strong connection to gain all the things I needed to return, and now I can go back home where I belong. I’ve had so many things I needed to do, and I’m not the type of person to remember a promise I once made and never keep it.”

Roxas’ words hung in the air for the moment, the Nobody’s eyes widening as he looked up to Kaede. There was no denying that she felt happy for him regaining his sense of self, but the fact of the matter was that she was going to end up awfully lonely without him. Her expression was a mix of melancholiness yet contentment as she looked up to him.  
  
“I’m glad you’re whole, Roxas, but… does that mean you’re going to leave me behind?” Kaede remarked sadly, not looking up to him.

With a solemn nod, the Nobody moved her way, before taking a seat next to her and staring blankly at the piano keys. There was no way he could let her know how he felt about the whole situation or else she would end up feeling hurt even more than she felt right now; how could he tell her he wants to stay when he’s unable to now that he’s found a good reason to come back? He closed his eyes, speaking softly.

“I’m afraid… I might have to leave. Not today, maybe not tomorrow… but I have to leave  _ some time _ to go back to my friends. The ones I left behind.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Kaede mused, now making the efforts to actually look his way. She didn’t voice it, but Roxas could tell she didn’t like the prospect of him leaving so early when they had just become such good friends. “I just… didn’t expect you to make a decision like that so early. That’s all.”

“...Kaede?”   


The pianist blinked, eyes lowering downward. “No, no. It’s fine. I just… don’t want to go through this alone, I guess.  **This world is too big.** I don’t want to travel it without a friend with me.”

Roxas sighed sadly, his eyes drifting from Kaede to the World Beyond. Nevertheless, a small smile appeared on his face as he closed his eyes.   
  
“There’s… one thing that I learned from my time with Sora that I think might help you feel a bit better. Since I’m his Nobody, a small piece of his memories stayed within the depths of my heart. When I remembered Xion, something from his adventures resurfaced, and it stuck with me.”   


Kaede looked up to him, waiting for him to continue. Roxas breathed in deeply, closing his eyes and feeling a familiar warmth around him—Sora’s influence, no doubt.

“...There’s this book called Winnie the Pooh.”   
  
The pianist tilted her head, temporarily caught off-guard. “You mean… as in the cartoon?”

Roxas was going to correct her, but then he remembered the importance of “keeping the world order” or something sanctimonious at that point. However, he’d be willing to say that this meeting probably clued Kaede in on the fact that things were decidedly a lot less normal than she would have previously believed them to be, so did it really matter at this point? The Nobody laughed softly.   
  
“You might know it as one. However, Sora’s got a tendency to travel often, and one of his journeys ended up allowing him to go visit Winnie the Pooh himself.”   


Kaede chuckled. “Something tells me it’s something I won’t understand no matter how hard I tried.”   


“I guess not. It’s a long story—long enough that I don’t think I’ll bother explaining it.” Roxas smiled, looking back to her. “Sora… connected with Winnie the Pooh really often. They were fast friends—a lot faster than you and I connected. There came a time where he had to leave him for the second time after helping that silly old bear regain all of his lost memories. 

“You see, Kaede, when you make a friend, you’re never able to say goodbye to them. You love them too much—you cherish their time, the memories made, yearning to relive those days—but those imprints on your heart can never be forgotten. That doesn't mean you'll lose the opportunity to meet them again as long as your heart's willing to remember them.”

The pianist paused, looking up to Roxas with a hopeful expression. 

“So… you’re saying that as long as I keep you in my heart, I’ll remember you always?”

“Of course.” Roxas put a hand on his chest, where his heart was. “No matter how far I go, no matter where I am, what time I’m in, who I turn into and what I go through… I’ve become a part of your heart, just like you’ve become a part of mine.  **We may never meet again, but we’ll never forget each other.”** **  
**

Silence pervaded throughout the land after Roxas’ words, but the Nobody did not mistake it for peace and harmony. He looked to the side, and as soon as he did, it was clear why she didn’t respond; she was busy weeping, lamenting the loss of a dearly beloved friend.   
  
“I’ll never forget you, but… I can’t lie and say that it hurts to say goodbye, you know?” Kaede sniffled, wiping at her eyes as she began to feel the waterworks pour. “I just needed a bit more time… and I would have been happy. I just don’t want to be alone again. Not after losing it all—and not after being told I’d lose a good friend like you.”

With little else to say, Roxas put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her as he spoke. “I’m not going to leave just yet, Kaede.”

“...You’re not…?”   
  
“Not yet.” He shook his head. “I’ve still got to spend a bit more time with you… A parting gift. I’ve got two more days before I leave, so we can get ready for that together, alright?”

Kaede sniveled again, looking up to him. “Are you sure? You don’t need to stay for me. It’s best if you leave while you’re still sure about it.”

“It wouldn’t be right of me to leave without giving you a token of my appreciation, right?” 

Reaching within his jacket pocket, Roxas procured a single crystal and held it out for Kaede to take. It was a shape Kaede knew very well—the blue sphere that he had held up to the sun in his memories. Taking it, Kaede could feel the warmth of the twilight sun beating down onto her, sitting upon the clock tower to the train station and chatting with her friends up there as the sunset air was enough to make her weep tears of joy. This was a gift given from the bottom of Roxas’ heart, and Kaede would have been a fool to refuse it. Taking it gingerly, Kaede whispered softly to herself, cupping the crystal with both of her hands.

“I… don’t know what to say, Roxas… I…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Roxas laughed. “It’s what friends do for each other, you know?”

“You’re right, but I—”   


Looking up to Roxas, Kaede could see another person in his place—no, two people, changing as she blinked! The first person was a woman with a black coat, like Roxas had sported in the dream; black hair framed her pale face, blue eyes shimmering beneath it all as she smiled. Kaede had blinked again before seeing someone else entirely new; a young boy with brown, spiky hair, and equally blue eyes. Something about his face looked so familiar—and it was after clutching the crystal in her right hand that Kaede could finally put a name to the face she was witnessing.

_ “...Sora…” _

Blinking again, Kaede could now see Roxas himself, who looked rather confused. “Kaede? Is everything alright? You… blanked out for a moment.”   
  
“Oh! Oh, well—” Kaede looked to the piano, focusing more on the piano keys than the spectacle that she had just witnessed. Something also told her that it was something that she wouldn’t be able to understand until far, far into the future—and that’s more than fine by her. “It’s… It’s nothing. The sun just got caught in my eyes, that’s all—you know how much it sucks when that happens.”  


“If you say so.”

The Final World stretched out far beyond the realms of Kaede’s line of sight, but all of a sudden, it didn’t feel so massive to the pianist. There was no denying that there was soon going to be a time where Roxas wouldn’t stay here with her any longer, but… keeping him in her heart would be all that she needed to feel as if she wasn’t alone. It’s said that one is the loneliest number, but she had enough people in her heart to make this barren world feel a lot more homely than it was before.

“Hey… Roxas?”   


The Nobody looked her way. “Yeah? What is it?”

“I just want to thank you for staying here with me for all this time.” Kaede looked up to him with a small smile on her face. “I know it’s not right of me to complain that you’re leaving since you’ve got a more important reason to go back to where you came from… but thank you. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.”

Roxas gasped for a moment, before smiling back and lightly nudging her in the arm.   
  
“You don’t have to thank me when it’s obvious I’m going to come back to see you again, Kaede.”

“...?” Kaede blinked in surprise. “You are?”   
  


“Well, obviously!” Roxas chuckled. “Who else is gonna be here to listen to your piano pieces? I promise you—one of these days, I’ll find your conscience, and I’ll bring it back to you so you can be put to rest at last.”

The pianist paused, before a faint blush appeared on her face. “You don’t have to do that, Roxas. You know what I did in order to lose my life in the first place, and I don’t think someone like me deserves a second lease at life…”  
  
“I don’t believe that.” Roxas whispered, looking towards the infinite void in front of him. “To do something so awful without a speck of darkness in your heart… I think that you deserve to live and see the people you care for again.” He shot a glance her way. “And that’s what I’ll help you with. When this is all over and my journey’s finished, I’ll ask Sora myself if we can get you back to where you came from. I  _ promise.” _

With a soft smile, Kaede nodded, looking towards the horizon in tandem with him.

“If that’s the promise that you’ve made… then I’ll believe in you.”

Silence fell over the duo again, nary a sound as the fifth day came to a close. Kaede’s thought processes continued as she felt her eyelids grew heavy.

Perhaps Kaede was numbed to the possibility of a friend leaving. Perhaps she so desperately wanted him to stay so she wouldn’t be lonely. Maybe, when he did leave, she’d be trapped in an empty world where there was little chance of her meeting someone else ever again…

...but when she looked upon the peaceful expression of Roxas’ sleeping face, she knew in her heart that it was for the best that he left to protect the people that he truly cared for.


	6. Day Six - Dirges

_“I wanted to tell you right away... about memories that sleep within you, and... about the pieces that will tie you to your future. Sora, Riku, Kairi... The truth behind the Keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts. Sora..._ **_You are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting and you're the only one who can end their sadness._ ** _They need you. It's possible that all your journeys so far have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you. I should have known there were no coincidences--only links in a much larger chain of events._ **_And now the door to your next journey...is ready to be open.”_ ** **_  
  
_ **

  * _Mickey speaking to Sora during the letter sequence of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded._



* * *

The sixth day began in total silence.

Kaede and Roxas were in a world where time had no meaning; it was morning whenever you woke up, and night whenever you went to sleep. However, the one thing that they both were sure of was that today was the last day they would both be able to spend together before Roxas had to leave for good. The thought numbed Kaede a little bit, frankly—the thought of making such a good friend only to have him leave her later on was sad already, but having it happen in such a vast world where there was no guarantee that she would even meet someone else again was almost as if all of her hope was dashed.

People often say that you should live like there’s no tomorrow, but Kaede was _painfully_ aware of the fact that tomorrow would lead to the sure departure of Roxas at last. It was… It was truly, truly saddening. It gnawed at her that she had all this time to spend with Roxas, but she didn’t know how to make sure her memory could last on when Roxas left. She didn’t want to be alone. Yes… Yes, that’s it. She didn’t want to be left behind.

Kaede is dead. There is no doubt about it; her physical body would be found in her world in the exact same condition she left it. She didn’t mind atoning for her crimes, but she didn’t want to be doomed to being alone in the afterlife. These feelings—of solitude, loneliness, desperation, a bitter curse asking for why she had been granted this chance only to have it taken away from him again—swelled within her heart to the point that she couldn’t take it any longer. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. _It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair it’s not fair how you have to leave me like I had to leave Shuichi—_

“Kaede? I… have something to ask of you before I leave.”

Kaede snapped out of her fit of sadness, looking up to the blonde Nobody with a gentle gaze. The pianist was unable to lie; she was envious of the peace that Roxas had come to feel regarding his eventual departure. Perhaps Roxas would be able to accept his purpose in life, but Kaede was not truly overly compassionate. A heart is a fickle thing—one moment, you will be glad that your friend must leave as it’s their purpose; the next one, you will be bitter at the workings of fate causing your separation in such an ugly manner. Sighing, Kaede smiled, masking her feelings.

  
“Yes? What is it, Roxas?”

Though Roxas was smiling, Kaede noted that his eyes showed a wisdom far greater than she would have expected from him. The Nobody, from what Kaede could tell, had suffered a lot within the period of his nonexistence, so perhaps he, too, knows and understands the painful loss the departure of a dear friend can bring.

“I remember you talking about a song long ago… that you gave to a friend.” Roxas smiled, eyes drifting to the piano. “Shuichi Saihara… He looked like a nice person.”  
  
“He… He was, yes.” Kaede mused sadly, looking to her hands as they stayed upon the piano keys. “He was… a good friend of mine. I liked him a lot, even if I never got to know him very well.”

“I could tell as much from your dreams. From what I could see, he was a very kind friend.” The Nobody looked up to Kaede. “You also told me that you left a song behind for him to remember you by… that it was all you needed to live on in the hearts of those you played music for.”

Kaede nodded hesitantly. Roxas smiled—Lord, how Kaede wished she would get to see it again after he leaves—before asking a simple question.

“...Could you play that song for me, please? Just so I can understand how much he meant to you?”

Kaede’s metaphysical heart came to a stop as she looked up to him. A request like that held too great a weight for him to make that unintentionally. Was Roxas attempting to make her feel better by remembering simpler times, where all she thought about was getting out of the academy alive with all of her friends? That was a fool’s dream from the start. Kaede sputtered for a moment, before her gaze shakily drew to the piano.

“Are… Are you sure?”  
  
Roxas nodded. “Please. I want to hear one more piano piece from you.”

“...Alright.”  
  
Breathing in, Kaede straightened her back and attempted to fix her composure. A simple breathing exercise was all that she needed in order to regain her cool, composed air. She could not cry— _will_ not cry—in the face of one of her dearest friends. As her hands stroked the piano keys, Kaede spoke softly, shutting her eyes and needing not look at the keys themselves in order to execute the song masterfully. Her technique was flawless—the emotion that underlaid the notes of the song could be felt by the common Dusk right up to the Superior of the In-Between himself.

“This song is… _Clair de Lune_ by Claude Debussy. I left it in Shuichi’s heart as a memento. Whenever he hears this song, I want him to think of me.”

Roxas said seldom else, watching Kaede continue her performance and hearing the bittersweet connotations within the pianist’s work. He closed his eyes, immersing himself in the sound of the music; Kaede hoped it lived up to his expectations, because she wasn’t just playing this for herself. She was playing it as a gift to not only Shuichi or Roxas, but as a token of her love for the friends she made to show that _she was still here,_ and that _she never stopped thinking about them._

The further she progressed through the song, the more memories resurfaced in little bubbles; each pop led to a new sensation assaulting her senses as she remembered memories of all kinds. Her first piano performance, where her talent was gifted upon her; her first piano recital in front of royalty and esteemed peers; her final performance before being sent to the academy, where she received a standing ovation from the crowd, where tears fell from her eyes from the warmth she felt being a small part of something even bigger—

The memories of the academy surged through her heart, causing the pianist’s breath to hitch. _Clair de Lune_ was not just a simple piano piece. She could feel it now: her first moments she spent with all of her friends, where she got to know them all a bit better… The multiple attempts she made running through the Death Road of Despair, making _promises_ to everyone that she could succeed (“So much for getting out together,” she bitterly notes)... The death of Rantaro Amami, and the subsequent trial where the truth came to light… Leaving behind her promise and being executed at last, finding herself here at last, and…

...Ah. Kaede didn’t know that it could rain in The Final World. Perhaps that was the water falling onto her hands as she concluded the song. Kaede’s shoulders heaved as a lifetime’s worth of emotions came pouring out from her heart. She could barely acknowledge Roxas wrapping her in a hug. All she felt was anguish and sadness—her tears poured out in droves, Kaede sobbing as she cried out.  
  
“I… I miss him, Roxas! I miss everyone! I don’t want you to leave… Not when I’ll be all on my own!” 

Roxas swallowed an unknown lump in his throat as he spoke. “I’m not going to leave you alone forever, Kaede. I made you that promise, remember? I’ll be back one day to help you find your friends again.”  
  
“I know you promised… a-and I know how much you mean it… I just… I-I just…!” Kaede looked up to him, tears streaking down her cheeks as she continued to weep. “I don’t want to lose anyone else again! I want to be remembered… I don’t want to be forgotten!”

“Now, what makes you say that?” Roxas rubbed her back. “You know I won’t forget you. You’re the entire reason I found the strength to keep going, you know.”

“I know I am… but I just…” Kaede wiped her eyes, unable to stop the onslaught of tears. “It’s not fair… It’s not fair how I have to lose another one of my friends. I don’t want to ever lose anyone else ever again.”

“You won’t lose me, Kaede. I’ll always stick to my promise. I’m never going to forget you for as long as I live.”

Kaede looked up to him, sniveling and sobbing even still. “But I can’t… believe that… I know I say I’m strong, and that’s true… but I’m scared. I’m scared. So, so scared of being on my own again.” She looked at the palms of her hands throughout her tears. “What if I’m not strong enough to handle being alone? I couldn’t even handle leaving everyone behind… I tried to say I was, but… I-I don’t want to leave them behind. I don’t want to be forgotten.”

Roxas closed his eyes, softly whispering. “I’m not going to forget you, Kaede. I promise.”

“...Do you promise?” Kaede looked up to Roxas. For the first time in her life, she felt completely vulnerable—as if she were made of glass, and being let go would cause her to shatter on her own.  
  
“I promise.” Roxas took hold of her hands, making her look up at him. “I’ll come back for you, and I’ll bring you back to your friends. We might not be able to meet again before you know it, but I’m good at keeping my promises.” 

Kaede, again, futilely wiped at her eyes, giggling a bit as she spoke. 

“...Even when I’m a hundred?”  
  
“H-Huh?” Roxas was temporarily caught off guard, before laughing. “Get real. You say that like I’ll forget you in the first place.” He smiled, shaking his head. “By then, I’ll have Sora help me get you back. It’s a promise.”

Kaede laughed, closing her eyes and feeling just a little bit happier. Being this close allowed a memory from Roxas to be shared with Kaede, the pianist being enveloped in a warm feeling and seeing a vivid sight...

* * *

_A young brown-haired boy sat on top of a hollow log, looking out towards the horizon of the 100 Acre Woods. His outfit was rather extravagant and intricate in comparison to his animal companion—a short, stout yellow bear with a simple red t-shirt on that stretched over his torso snugly. The beginning of the conversation was the slightest bit hazy, but this young boy smiled as he spoke out to the air._

_"Pooh, promise you won't forget about me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred."_

_Pooh thought for a little. "How old shall I be then?"_

_"Ninety-nine."_

_Pooh nodded. "I promise," he said._

_Still with his eyes on the world, Sora put out a hand and felt for Pooh's Paw. "Pooh," said Sora earnestly, "if I — if I'm not quite —" he stopped and tried again — "Pooh, whatever happens, you will understand, won't you?"_

_"Understand what?"_

_"Oh, nothing." He laughed and jumped to his feet. "Come on!"_

_"Where?" said Pooh. "Anywhere," said Sora._

_So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing._

* * *

“...So I’ll be in good hands, then, huh…?” Kaede opened her eyes at last, looking to Roxas sadly as he spoke. “I… can’t lie and say that the thought of being alone doesn’t awfully scare me, Roxas. I know that you and Sora might come by to help me return to where I came from, but I don’t want to be alone.”  
  
Chuckling, Roxas simply put a finger and poked it just above Kaede’s chest where her heart was. “I told you before, Kaede. You have nothing to fear. You won’t have to say goodbye to me, either, as long as you keep me in your heart. Play the piano as much as you want. Play it, and think of everyone you’ve made a connection with, and they’ll be right there with you as well. You won’t be alone.”

Kaede sniffled, upper lip quivering as she whispered again. “Do I have the strength to keep going on even without you?”

The Nobody nodded, a peaceful smile on his face. “You had the strength to go on all this time without needing anyone, didn’t you? People like Shuichi and I will always be there. Within the darkness… a strong light will always shine brightly, guiding you to the right path back to where you belong.”

With the encouragement tucked away within her heart, Kaede finally felt an emotion she hadn’t felt until right now: acceptance. The future didn’t scare her as much as it had before. Perhaps she may remain alone for a while, but all she needed to stay alive was the piano for herself to express her feelings. 

Roxas smiled, looking towards the now-moonlit sky as he murmured. “I might not stay here for long… but I enjoyed the time that we spent together. You were one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“I… I agree.” Kaede reciprocated the sentiment, looking towards the sky in tandem as she reminisced on the time they had spent together. “I know I won’t be able to see you off on your journey, but I hope that you’ll be fine. I wish you the best of luck.”  
  
“Thank you. I know it’ll be difficult not having somewhere to stay, but **home is where the heart is.** Just think of your friends, and they’ll be right there to help you.”

“...I’m going to miss you, Roxas.”  
  
“And I’ll miss you as well, Kaede… Thank you for keeping me company for so long. When I come back to you one more time, I’ll get you back to your friends where you belong… and that’s a promise.” 

From that moment on, neither spoke another word. Parting is such sweet sorrow—there was no way either of them could continue to speak without bursting into tears. At the same time, however, both Nobody and pianist alike were able to accept that this destiny was not left to chance. It is often said that friendships like there are once-in-a-lifetime, and that much is true; however, Roxas is a firm keeper of his promises, and would not hesitate to come back again to make sure Kaede could return to her friends.

Whilst the moonlit sky glimmered above their heads, the two of them slowly fell into a deep, blissful sleep, awaiting the next morning and hoping that it may lead to a better day. The dreams they both had were of tearful reunions and meeting again someday.

A single memory shared by Sora played in both of their heads as their dreams grew deeper and deeper.

* * *

_Sora unwrapped a letter from a bottle, taking out the message and reading it with Riku aloud._

_“Thinking of you, wherever you are..._

_We pray for our sorrows to end,_

_and hope that our hearts will blend._

_Now I will step forward to realize this wish._

_And who knows,_

_starting a new journey may not be so hard—_

_Or maybe it has already begun._

_There are many worlds,_

_but they share the same sky:_ _  
_ **_One sky, one destiny.”_ **

_A brilliant light then appeared in front of the both of them, enveloping them and letting them go back home where they belong..._

* * *

The sixth day came to an end when they both fell asleep in bliss, dreaming of their eventual return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, uh, admittedly had to include that Sora-saying-goodbye-to-Pooh bit because reading that passage hit me hard. Did it happen in Kingdom Hearts canon? Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
> 
> Man, 100 Acre Woods might get a lot of flak for being "useless", but emotion-wise, it hits different. The theme is guaranteed to make me weep more than The Other Promise does.
> 
> Due to symbolic reasons, this next chapter will take thirteen days to publish. Wait warmly and leave a few comments to pass the time if you wish.


	7. Day Seven - Goodbyes

_“They can take your world, they can take your heart, cut you loose from all you know—but if it's your fate, then every step forward will always be a step closer to home.”_

  * _Sora’s monologue in the very opening of Kingdom Hearts III._



* * *

The seventh day began with Kaede and Roxas standing together and looking out to the horizon.

“...So… this is goodbye, is it?” Kaede whispered softly, a reserved smile on her face as she prepared herself for the eventual departure of her newest friend. “I know I asked last night, but… will I ever see you again?”

Roxas laughed, looking far across the bright blue sky with a confident look on his face. “You’ll always be able to see me again, Kaede. All you have to do is keep me in your heart—” he spoke, putting a hand over his chest, “—and I’ll see you again someday. I promise.”

“And… you said you’d be willing to return my conscience to me?”

He nodded. “Of course. That’s also a promise I’m willing to make.”  
  
Kaede sighed sadly. “You don’t have to do that for me...”

“It’s alright.” Roxas looked her way, outstretching a hand for her to grab. “Whatever happens next, I know I’ll be able to see you again.” 

The smile on his face was enough to calm her down just a little bit, smiling a melancholic smile as she looked her way and accepted his hand. “I’m… going to miss you, Roxas.”

“And I’m going to miss you as well, Kaede.” Roxas’ eyes drifted down towards his hand, clutching tightly onto Kaede’s. “I know it’s only been seven days, but… I wouldn’t have spent these seven days with anyone else.”

“I’m glad you’d say something like that… Thank you so much for being here with me.” She squeezed his hand, a sorrowful smile on her face as she accepted what would happen next.

Roxas’ form began to sparkle like stardust, his body becoming enveloped in light as he willed himself back to the world whence he came from—to the place where his friends needed him the most. Although this was a sad departure, he was comforted by the thought of meeting Kaede again one more time and being able to reunite with her yet again. Looking her in the eyes, he smiled.

“...Take care, Kaede. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Kaede smiled, a single tear streaking down her face as she whispered. “Right back at you, Roxas. It was nice knowing you.”

And, with that, the Serendipitous Key traveled far, far away, whilst Kaede stayed in a place where she could place her ears upon the earth and hear the worlds spinning without her.

* * *

_~ the promise he kept ~_

**_Tearful reunions and hearts reconnected. Lost memories and lost identities reminded. Words left unsaid and unheard resurfaced. Destiny is never left to chance—he would always be there to bring them back._ **

**“Hands off my friends.”**

Roxas stood with his feet firmly apart, clutching onto both Keyblades Oathkeeper and Oblivion as he stared down his once-was Superior. Being given the opportunity to live yet again was one he refused to squander—and it was just as well that he arrived when he did, or else Sora, Axel, Kairi, and Xion (the name danced sweetly on his tongue; it was difficult to believe he only remembered such a warm friend recently) would have been disposed of by the Superior of the In-Between. 

“It… cannot be…!”

The dust cloud he caused when he landed onto the earth beneath him slowly began to fade away as his friends looked up to him. He pulled his hood back, revealing his blonde hair and his identity to everyone else that was there. Axel cried out to him, a bright smile on his face as he recognised his friend.  
  
“R… R-Roxas! You’re here!”

He smiled, looking back to him. “I’ll always be there for my friends. Now it’s _my_ turn.”

“Roxas…”

There it was. There was the voice that he could always remember but never put a name to. He looked back and took in Xion’s face. Black hair and blue eyes… Oh, how he missed her. Forgetting her once was a mistake he was never going to repeat ever again. The rumbling, deep voice of Xemnas fully caught his attention, the recompleted Nobody grunting and tightening the grip on his Keyblades, crossing them together.

“This is impossible. Where did you get a vessel?”

Roxas scoffed, a grin on his face as he answered his question.  
  
“I never needed one, unlike yourself and the other members of the Organisation. People like you and Xehanort—they travelled from the past and required a vessel. I simply followed my heart and returned here to where my friends are!”

“Surely, you jest.” Xemnas furrowed his brow, Ethereal Blades Interdiction on the ready should he need to fight Roxas. “Although it is true that Nobodies are able to grow hearts, your existence came to an end when you merged with Sora. By all accounts, your return is a true paradox.”

“But I’m still here right in front of you, Xemnas. All it took was a strong heart to send me back here to protect the people I care for.”

Xemnas looked past Roxas to a certain Keyblade wielder and his friend. “Sora… Kairi...”

Sora, ever the cheerful one, smiled as he pumped his fist in the air. “That’s right! I knew it was possible to bring him back if I tried hard enough!”  
  
“Sora… Thank you, but it’s not because of you I’m here this time.”

His cheerfulness turned to confusion as he looked at him. “Huh? Then… who was it that brought you back?”

Roxas smiled, looking back slightly so he could acknowledge Sora’s question whilst addressing Xemnas. “I owe my return to many—some of them people you knew. However, the one that brought me back is a friend that no one here’s met yet.”

“What?” Xemnas hissed, glaring at Roxas. “Who was the person that brought you back? Is it another one of the denizens of light?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not, ‘Superior’. Her name is Kaede Akamatsu, and her heart was filled with enough light to grant me emotions to send me back here.”

“Kaede… Akamatsu…?” The head of the Original Organisation XIII grunted as he looked back at Saïx. “Find this… person. We will make sure to extinguish her should we fail to—”  
  
“THERE’S NOT A CHANCE OF THAT HAPPENING, XEMNAS!” Roxas roared with pure, unadulterated rage as he splayed out his Keyblades as widely as he could. The thought of Xemnas putting his hands on her was enough to anger him beyond any emotion he ever felt before. “You can’t destroy her heart, because **she’s already gone!** When I was in The Final World, I met her… she was only her heart and emotions! It’s because of her being kind enough to let me have them that I am who I am right now!”

“Impossible!” Xemnas’ patience was slowly wearing thin the more and more Roxas spoke. Interdiction held in both of his hands, the once-was Superior and the Lunar Diviner readied themselves. The plan was to take care of Kairi to provide Sora motivation to clash with Master Xehanort, but Roxas appearing was putting a serious dent in their plans, and especially so with the rage the Roxas was exhibiting. “You are _nothing_ more than a mere walking empty husk! How would you be able to gain a heart when all that remained from merging with Sora was your conscience?!”

Roxas’ eyes flickered with deathly fury as he took the center stage. Sora had done enough fighting for now; this was going to be payback for putting himself, Axel, and Xion through so much pain!  
  
“Are you scared, Xemnas? You ought to be!” Gritting his teeth, he raised Oathkeeper and Oblivion high into the air and clashed them together. “There’s nothing that can stop me from letting go and showing you _what real hurt feels like!”_

“And what would _you_ know about real hurt?” Saïx grunted, lifting his Claymore, Lunatic, and preparing himself to fight. “Your experiences and emotions are fake. I cannot hold sympathy for a fool like you.”

Roxas closed his eyes, images of Axel, Xion, and the Twilight Town Ensemble flashing in his head as he spoke. “It’s true… Nobodies aren’t meant to feel emotions. When I was first born, I wasn’t granted that luxury; Xion and Axel were the only people I could genuinely trust when I still worked for Xemnas.” Then a single image of Kaede playing the piano was all that he needed in order for his rage to strengthen, opening his eyes and shouting. “But that doesn’t matter anymore! _My friends are my power, and I’m theirs!”_

Sora watched with wide eyes as Roxas let out his true emotions for the first time. Seeing him vent his frustrations was a sight that he never thought he would be able to witness. “Roxas, I…”

With a deep exhale, Roxas smiled, looking back. “You don’t need to worry, Sora. It’s between me and these two, so just stay put and make sure Axel and Kairi are okay.”

“No… I’m not letting you fight without me!”  
  
Roxas’ eyes widened, looking to the side where Xion had gotten out her own Keyblade. Kingdom Key’s Keychain rattled as she readied her stance. “Xion?” 

“I… I feel the same way, Roxas. Nobodies can’t feel, but that doesn’t mean they _have_ to remain emotionless!” Xion cried, pointing her Keyblade at Xemnas. “Me, Axel, and Roxas are living proof of that!”

Xemnas bared his teeth as he spoke menacingly. This would be a battle far beyond the scale Xehanort had ever planned for, and for once in his nonexistence, Xemnas felt… fear! A fear gripped his very “heart” as he prepared himself for the clash ahead. Something told him that this was going to be the culmination of both Roxas’ and Xion’s feelings, and the result would be sure to lead to both himself and Saïx being thoroughly beaten.

“Why must you insist on futilely fighting…?”

“Because this is the will of those who we once cared for!” Xion shouted. “For Axel’s sake… For Sora’s and Kairi’s…”

  
Roxas spoke in tandem with Xion. “For everyone you’ve ever betrayed and trampled over… For the sake of Kaede…!”

**_“THIS IS OUR LAST PROMISE TO EVERYONE!”_ **

Roxas and Xion sprinted at full speed towards Xemnas and Saïx, their battle cries being heard throughout the whole of the Keyblade Graveyard as they began to clash with each other. Nothingness met Keyblade met Claymore, the flickering embers of wrath in their collective hearts as their attacks bloomed into full blown assaults. This battle was the climax of their anger, their hurt, their pain—and all the other emotions they felt during their suffering at the hands of Xehanort. At that moment, Roxas felt as if he was truly alive.

The sweet sound of Kaede’s piano playing was all that he needed to gain the drive to continue fighting. Not just for himself, but for all the people he cared for.

* * *

_~ the promise they remembered ~_

**_Time does not pass in The Final World. When one’s existence comes to an end, the place where they go is completely devoid of things such as “sense of self” or “time”. However, a constant always remains—someone will always be able to return where they came from when the heart, soul, and mind rejoin once and for all._ **

Now that Kaede was well and truly on her own, she had to think of ways to pass the time.

Being on her lonesome was a tremendous task due to the crippling loneliness she felt, but there was little that she could do about that in a world that was sparsely populated. Kaede could wait for someone to come, but the chance of that happening was far too slim for her to even think of wishing for it. All that remained was her memories of Roxas and the transparent piano in The Final World.  
  
The question was simple: what should she play? 

A bittersweet mood might help express her feelings. There were many piano pieces that exuded an aura of sadness and melancholy that could help her with that, but _anything_ could sound depressing if one tried. _Clair de Lune_ was always a favourite, but the sadness she’d feel from playing it would be enough to swallow her entire heart whole. Maybe something else would do—or perhaps she could take a different option and simply play a piece from the heart? She’s the Ultimate Pianist, after all. If she tried, she would be able to play her music right from the depths of her emotions.

All she needed to picture was the thought of her friends being right by her side in order to feel her best; closing her eyes helped her imagine it vividly.

The first people that came to mind was a purple-haired boy—Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader—teasing K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot (most presumably if androids dream of electric sheep) and having it lead to Kokichi chasing him. Of course, his little game came to an end when the Ultimate Maid, Kirumi Tojo stopped him in his tracks, with the Ultimate Entomologist, Gonta Gokuhara being there as well to comfort the Ultimate Robot. Such a homely scenario was enough to bring Kaede back to simpler times...

Slowly, but surely, more and more people filled her vision the more she lost herself in these comforting memories. Being with them made her feel… safe. Like she could take on this crippling loneliness so long as she just believed in them.

Maki Harukawa—Ultimate Child Caregiver—roped into a hug by the ever-so-boisterous Ultimate Aikido Master, Tenko Chabashira, who had also squeezed Himiko Yumeno, Ultimate Magician, by her side as well. Those images faded away to the image of Angie Yonaga—Ultimate Artist—chatting with Tsumugi Shirogane—Ultimate Cosplayer—before looking Kaede’s way and giving her the largest, most goofiest of smiles. It was enough to make Kaede laugh softly, these images giving her more and more ideas the more she thought of them.

Three more people appeared in front of her. A man with an intricately-detailed outfit—one she recognised as belonging to the Ultimate Anthropologist, Korekiyo Shinguji—simply hung around a table and drank some soup with two of his friends. A blonde-haired woman tinkered furiously with a new invention of hers—Ultimate Inventor, Miu Iruma—whilst the young man simply pulled down his beanie, smiling to himself as the two people chatted with one-another about what their plans were for the morning. Ah, that was the Ultimate Tennis Pro, Ryoma Hoshi for you. He always did enjoy seeing others happy, even if his problems made it difficult for him to feel the same way about himself.

Lastly, the most familiar of faces appeared in front of her. Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, smiling and waving at her with a calm, rational expression on his face, hat covering one of his eyes and wishing her the best of luck for her future. Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars and the Ultimate Astronaut, cheering her on from wherever he is now and telling her not to give up and keep pushing her forward, purple jacket reflecting an image of the cosmos as he continued to boost her spirits. Kaede’s heart resonated with both of their presences, the pianist beginning to play a few notes without having to even think about the melody.

This piece was an ode to all of the people that she made friends with before—and after—she lost her life gracelessly in her execution. This piece was a token of her love, a tribute of her humanity, a song that shouted proudly to the world that _Kaede Akamatsu was still here._ This piece played notes with a fierce passion, each key press letting loose an inexpressible amount of emotion—bitterness at a life lost and a world being taken away from them; wrath at wishing that fate was changed and that it wasn’t fair that she lost a friend so quickly; a hesitant, reluctant acceptance that this was what destiny had in store for them both.

The more that she played, the more she could see someone in front of her in her visions and memories.

That striking green hair and remarkably unassuming clothing… It was Rantaro. He faced away from her, staring out far into the black void her memories provided—for all she could remember was her friends and not the location where they all went to—and seemingly did not acknowledge her at all. However, seeing him at last, Kaede was filled with the urge to apologise and atone for all of her sins against him.

_“R… R-Rantaro!”_

While it was true she was stuck in this dark void, the ground was still solid, and she ran as fast as she could to get to him. It was disorienting due to the resistance that stopped her from running as quickly as she wanted—almost as if something was holding her back. With enough willpower, she finally got close to him, reaching out towards him.

_“Rantaro… Rantaro, I… I-I’m so sorry, I…”_

_“...Kaede. It’s fine.”_

At last, the green-haired man looked her way, looking at peace as he looked her way. It was honestly surprising to Kaede how nonchalantly he greeted his killer, the pianist looking close to tears as she blubbered out how she felt about this whole situation. She… She had seen how awful Rantaro’s death was. She knew it had to have been painful. Kaede tried to find the right words to say, still unsure as to how she would address him after such a horrific event. Would he accept her apology? Would he rebuke her and condemn her for her actions? What would he do?

_“Rantaro... R-Rantaro…”_

Kaede sniffled, wiping at her eyes.  
  
 _“I’m so sorry! I’m sorry for what happened, I… I know it was awful, I just wanted to get the mastermind, I…”_

 _“I told you, Kaede. It’s fine.”  
  
_ Looking up to Rantaro at last, she saw his green eyes peer down onto her. Instead of being as angry as she thought he would be, he seemed at peace, putting a hand on her shoulder and speaking softly.

_“You must have been so worried, right? Worried because you thought what you did was wrong…?”_

Kaede shook her head. _“I didn’t think it… I knew it was wrong. As soon as I thought of it, I fell into the mastermind’s trap…”_ The pianist shivered, looking up to Rantaro. _“I can’t even be sure that I’m seeing you right now. I could just be hallucinating, asleep thanks to my music, I…”_

Rantaro laughed, closing his eyes.

 _“You could be hallucinating, yes, but I assure you that you’re seeing me right now.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Kaede’s eyes widened. _“H-Huh…? I… I am…?”_

 _“Yes. You are.”_ Rantaro opened his eyes and smiled, gently looking down upon her. _“I might not be there right by you now… but I can still feel your heart. I’ve already forgiven you for what happened, Kaede. It’s not your fault.”_

Those words hit her like a freight train, the pianist looking upon Rantaro helplessly as she whispered to herself.

_“No, that’s wrong… It’s my fault you’re dead. It’s my fault we’re both here in the first place. I shouldn’t have tried to kill in the first place.”_

_“I don’t believe that, Kaede.”_ Rantaro smiled sweetly, voice gentler than the softest silk. _“It wasn’t your fault that I’m dead. Even if it were, I would still forgive you, because the pressure from the Killing Game is just too much to bear.”_

Shamefully, Kaede bowed her head. _“You shouldn’t forgive me… I’m a murderer, I… I… I’m completely…”_

 _“...not to blame.”_ Rantaro amusedly remarked. _“No matter what happens, you and I both know that we’re still friends despite it all. It’s a promise, isn’t it?_ **_The other promise_ ** _that you made.”_

 _“...What?”_   
  
Kaede looked up at last, seeing not just Rantaro, but another person right by her side. Her breath hitched in her throat from surprise and sudden remorse as soon as the other person appeared.

It was Roxas, standing right by Rantaro’s side and looking upon Kaede with a gentle, gentle smile as he spoke. Roxas looked upon her with such kindness that it was enough to make her eyes water—because she didn’t think she deserved such kindness, not even if Rantaro himself forgave her for what happened.

_“You have to let go, Kaede. It’s fine. Rantaro’s forgiven you, and I’ve seen myself that you don’t have the heart to do it again.”_

_“It’s true.”_ Rantaro whispered, looking upon her much like a big brother would look upon their little sister. _“From the very beginning, I forgave you for a crime you never committed. It’s fine, Kaede.”_

 _“N… N-No, it’s not…”_ Kaede sputtered out, tears welling in her eyes as she spoke. _“Please, I… I’m sorry, I…”_

_“You have nothing to be sorry for.”_

Slowly, both Roxas and Rantaro raised their hand, pointing towards Kaede’s heart with a peaceful expression.

**_“It’s fine, Kaede. Everything we’ve both done led up to this moment… and it’s time to let it go.”_ **

A warm light enveloped her in full, silhouettes of the two of them being the last thing she saw before she opened her eyes. Just like that, she was back in The Final World, her fingers having stopped playing the piano during her remembrance of all of the people she had cared for when she was still alive on Earth. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she reminisced for those whom she had cared for, musing to herself as she spoke.

“Time to let it go, huh…? Maybe… Maybe you’re both right. I wouldn’t want to come back to Earth all bitter and sad, right…?”

There was no denying that it would take a while before Kaede could get over the horrific events that lead to Rantaro’s death and her own execution… and there was definitely a slim chance that she would ever be able to look anyone in the eyes without her friends being there right by her side to support her. As it stood at the moment, Kaede might have a lot of obstacles she needed to get over if she ever wanted to be “okay” again.

...But that never mattered to her at all.

The moment that she opened up her heart and allowed everyone to become a part of it was the moment that she had lived a good life. Through her passions of the piano and the connections she had made with friends both old and new, Kaede’s heart would never be forgotten. People that inherited her spirit—like Shuichi or Roxas—would go on and do good things for the sake of honouring her wish, and at the end of it all, wasn’t that what she wanted most?

With a renewed sense of acceptance and the intention of waiting as much time as it would take for Roxas to come back and fulfill his promise, she began to play the piece that came to her earlier.

The seventh day came to an end with the last piano piece Kaede made for Roxas’ sake. Wherever he may be right now—whether in good spirits or gone for good—she knew that her music would stretch across all the worlds beyond both the Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness to reach him. Somewhere, somehow, they’d meet again one more time—and maybe she’d meet Sora, just like Roxas would meet Shuichi and the others.

As she hit the notes that brought an end to the week, two sentences flowed from her mouth; Kaede would be playing this one in the name of Roxas, the friend whom she knew only for seven days—but felt as if she knew him for a lifetime.

  
“...I think I’ll be calling this one… **The Other Promise…** I’ll miss you very much, Roxas.”

And, with that, the sky stretching over The Final World seemed ever-so-inviting as the sun beat down upon her; Kaede was at peace.

* * *

_~ the promise she left behind ~_

**_The human body is composed of three metaphysical things: the heart, the soul, and the mind. The loss of the heart leads to one becoming a Heartless. The loss of the soul leads to one becoming a Nobody. However, the question then becomes this: what causes the departure of the mind from the other two qualities? What remains of the body when someone loses their mind…? Where does the conscience go?_ **

_“Good morning.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Ah… Good morning…”_

 _“Oh, Shuichi... Um…”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“You finally got rid of that emo hat! Is this ‘cuz Kaede died or whatever?”_

 _“Quiet, you_ **_male!_ ** _Learn some manners, why don’t you…?!”_

 _“Oh, huh, you’re not wearing your hat. I didn’t even notice.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“And you could stand to learn some manners, too, you insensitive jerk!”_

 _  
_ _“No, I just… felt like it was getting in the way. That’s all.”_

_Kokichi’s words rang through his head as Shuichi looked far into the night sky, shielded by that dome. Despite brushing it off so casually, there was no denying that part of his reasoning for ditching it was for the sake of Kaede’s wish. He couldn’t rely on a crutch for the rest of his time here at the academy, after all, and he had to be strong in some way._

_It was… difficult. Very difficult, given the events of before._

_It goes without saying that Kaede’s execution was brutal. Savage, even, with the almost disgusting theatrics and the odd sense of it being a grand finale for the chapter in which Kaede was a part of. As soon as that noose wrapped around her neck and the piano was unveiled for the rest of the students to watch, Shuichi’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. It was akin to watching a trainwreck in slow motion; it was completely horrific… and yet he could not pry away his eyes from what he saw._

_The last thing he saw of Kaede’s corpse would stick with him for a while. She was… lifeless. Totally, totally lifeless. Well, of course, that’s a given since she was dead, but… there’s something rather harrowing over seeing one of your friends hanging lifelessly from the ceiling, only to get destroyed by the lid of a massive grand piano. It was disturbing. Far more disturbing than his first murder case—and that one would stay with him for the rest of his life. Why did it have to be Kaede that killed Rantaro? Why did he have to expose the truth if it was only going to hurt him in the end?_

_Why? That was the question he had to ask. Shuichi had no way of discerning whether what he did was right or wrong—or if he even had the guts to do it again if he had to._

_(“No,” he admonished himself quietly in the courtyard as he adjusted his hat. “That’s not what Kaede would have wanted to hear me say.”)_

_It hurt, truly, having to confront that part of himself without anyone to fall back to and admit his true feelings to. Kaede was gone; that much gnawed away at his insides the more he thought about it. Kaede being gone_ **_because of him_ ** _is something he couldn’t simply face and not regret all the actions that lead him up to this point._

_At what point does one give up after facing trauma? Shuichi doesn’t know—hopes he will not know—but he can only pray that he never faces that point lest he give up and fail in honouring Kaede’s wish._

_This, of course, was the reason that he was outside beneath the starry night sky. Or, at least, he thought it was starry. Being eclipsed in a dome makes observing the outside about as easy as threading a camel through the eye of a needle, after all._

_It was almost obscenely serene, taking into account the reason as to why they were all here. He heard no crickets chirping and nary any commotion from the other students (for they were all in their dorms) as he walked around, the wind rustling the grass and providing an eerily calm scene for the current night. Shuichi would have appreciated it had it not been for the fact that everyone is currently trapped, and the two people that could have been there with all of the other students right to the very end had been killed.  
  
_ _(Killed because he didn’t try hard enough. Killed because Shuichi couldn’t think of a solution to the motive being blared on the loudspeakers._ **_Killed because of him.)_ **

_As Shuichi looked around to the moonlit surroundings, he saw a silhouette blinking in and out of existence right in front of him. It looked… It looked just like Kaede. Almost as if it were a ghost. The starlit form of Kaede glimmered in front of him, looking far towards the moon. She wore a purple mask that covered her face with only her eyes being shown, alongside wearing a dress that flowed to the ground in droves of purple and velvets. Shuichi didn’t believe in ghosts, but what he saw in front of him made him croak out in surprise, reaching towards her._

_  
_ _“K… Kaede?”  
  
_

 _Wordlessly, the silhouette slowly looked back towards him, nary an expression on her face as her gaze pierced through him. However, the corners of her mouth twitched upwards, warm and happy emotions radiating from her as she spoke slowly.  
_ _  
_ _  
_ **_“I will always be here.—”_ **

_She pointed to her chest._

**_“Believe in me… and I will be there right by your side during the darkest of times.”_ **

_Her words were cut off as the lingering will of Kaede Akamatsu broke eye contact with Shuichi. Turning slowly—her footsteps echoed within the night with each one she took—she looked up to the moon and made a heart shape with both of her hands._

**_“Sora.”_ **

  
  
  
  


**_An Oath to Return_**

**_KINGDOM HEARTS_ **

**_May your heart be your guiding key,_ **

**_and may the music of the wind_ **

**_guide you down the beaten path_ **

**_back to the home from whence you came._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, wouldn't it be funny if the Kaede mentioned in FierySprites' fanfic wasn't actually Kaede, but her Lingering Will corrupted by her rage against losing so many of her friends being spurred into darkness? No, I'm just kidding... unless?
> 
> ...Nah, I'm just kidding. I wouldn't do that.
> 
> Anyway, as far as this fanfic goes, this is the very first multi-chaptered fanfic that I completed! Surprising, yeah, given the fact I have some I still have some to complete, but I'll wear this achievement around my neck. Fun fact: in my Google Docs pages for all these chapters (counting the quotes at the beginning of each chapter), the first six last seven pages long, whilst this one lasts thirteen. As you can tell, my symbolism game is on point.
> 
> I hope that this fanfic was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write.


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